Visiting Royalty

We’ve had some truly lovely weekends lately, but none has been as completely delightful as one we enjoyed in mid-September. That was the weekend when we had the honor of entertaining visiting royalty.

Jim’s mother, Betty, has always had a soft spot in her heart for our house in CT. She has loved the Spring House since she first saw it and, when we visited them in Michigan in August, she expressed the wish to come visit. With Jim’s sister, Linda, in accompaniment, Betty and Bill came to visit for a long weekend. Linda was along to help them negotiate the trip, but having her was an extra delight. Linda hadn’t visited us in CT since the Big 50th Anniversary Celebration which took place the year Ellie was born (1993). She had never seen our house in Rye Brook I don’t believe.

Betty, Bill and Linda arrived on Thursday and spent the first day and night in Rye Brook. We had a lovely dinner and Peter was able to join us. Then Jim drove up to CT with Betty, Bill and Linda Friday morning. Ellie drove the green Subaru down from Smith. Peter and I were able to join them later Friday night arriving just in time for a nostalgic dinner at the Venetian. We had a delightful evening at the big circular table in the lovely front dining room.

The weather was ideal. The trees were just getting some color and the air was warm and had that early fall hint of falling leaves and changing seasons. We went to the Norfolk Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning and had a lovely sightseeing drive around the area. We all enjoyed just hanging out and chatting, reading and there was some napping done as well. Jim broke out his telescope which provided both entertainment and a novel view of the sun. It was perfect to have everyone with us with the exception of Alex. We had hoped he would be able to Skype us, but his training in Twenty-nine Palms was extended so we were unable to connect.

Saturday evening we dined at home. Sunday we enjoyed a big brunch and then everyone enjoyed sitting on the patio in back in the sun. Sometimes doing almost nothing is all the entertainment one needs.

After two delightful days, Ellie headed to Smith and we all drove back to Rye Brook. We had a last evening together before the intrepid travelers headed back to Birmingham. It was a hugely successful visit all around and we couldn’t imagine one thing to make it more perfect.

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Well, maybe if we had the entire Frost clan together–that would have been more perfect. That’s for another day. Heartfelt thanks to Betty and Bill for making the trip and the hugest thanks to Linda (daughter and sister extraordinaire) for joining in and making it both possible and even better!

Book Expo 2011

Last week was BEA (Book Expo America) which is the big trade show for booksellers, publishers and related fields. It was a fascinating show both for its overview of where the industry is and is heading and for me on a personal level.

Five years ago BEA had grown to monstrous proportions. The show floor was so large that it was almost impossible to walk the show during the three days it was open. There were few cities with convention halls large enough to hold it. We enjoyed a last visit to Los Angeles in 2008 and then it was understood the show would remain in New York. The thinking was that so many exhibitors were based in New York that that would represent a cost savings for them and New York would remain a draw for out of towners needing to attend the show–namely booksellers and rights buyers (foreign publishers). BEA had historically been on Memorial Day weekend so booksellers could attend over a long holiday weekend when their shops would be closed. Clearly, that was no longer relevant either.

In fact the question of relevance has dogged BEA for some time. In an industry facing increasing consolidation among booksellers, was there a benefit to having a booth to see a customer base which comprised less than 20% of sales? Contact with the larger customers took place constantly and didn’t involve a booth and product on display. How important was it to spend a lot of money to talk to the indies (independent booksellers) about upcoming books? Or was the show supposed to be about something else, rights sales for instance? These questions were debated ad nauseaum with no greater resolution, for my former employer at least, than smaller booth space and fewer parties.