>> they all believe i think that ethical progress is needed beyond and much more than the purely political one. it's a great ambition. perhaps it's an overextended ambition, but why not try? >> how do you make it ethical

change without a political change? how is that supposed to come about? do we just think ourselves to its? >> i think obviously it comes about basically through education. it is a new form of looking at what the teachers teach their pupils. if it is way for university, research, my mind is always very angry at the way that the faculties are separated from one another, and that one becomes specialist of something and doesn't know much about the rest. he is in fear of overreaching knowledge that has to be found and that has to be brought, but more importantly, i would say if anybody, any young person, looks

around him at society as it moves, he has good reason to be outraged because -- and he may have the feeling that he himself may be responsible for some change, and that his responsibility may go in the direction of being ethically more aware of what can be considered good and what can be considered wrong. it is so difficult to get a generation out of the pew research of money, of employment, of a good car and a good home. even a good wife is perhaps not the best thing that one looks for. sure, it's better to have a good wife than a bad wife -- [laughter] but the interest for material goods is overreaching, and

thought reflection about what does it really bring, believe more in spiritual values and they have ever believed in before. that may come as a sort of movement. what happened to religions in the past. very hard to remember how religion started. i'm struck, i've been in other islamic countries, i am struck by the enormous of the profit. when one asks them what is your belief, they say well, obviously it is clear. then we have the koran, we have the profit and, therefore, that hasn't prevented them from having terrible tyrannies and

the terrible corruptions, and more perhaps than any other countries. but there is a basis of there. i'm not calling for any universal religion. i don't believe in -- because i think they are against the others. that is not the way to reach consensus, you see their i am closer to obama. but a real utopia, a real dream, a real vision borne by poetry, and if you are not careful soon or later i would begin to recite poetry, but let's leave that for later. [laughter]

it's something, if you are -- it makes you feel for the vision that is utopia. and i think that may be for people to think why should we not believe in something much more satisfactory to the mind into the heart than what we are living now? not only try to grab something from what is possible, let's quickly get a little more money he or there. that is not very amusing. it may take some time but it doesn't lead to be a real person. [applause]

>> on that note, can i just ask you if you can talk to us a little bit about how your own personal history informs these ideas? in particular, your book is among other things a return to the ideas, the ideals that fuel the french resistance. and maybe you can talk to us a little bit about your experience and i think the values and the principles of the french resistance were so formative for you and are still relevant today. >> yes. somebody wanted something? [inaudible] >> for him? >> okay. >> is it all right? should answer your question? yes, i will. speak in you go talk to them? thank you. go ahead, please.

we will work on it but choose project in the meantime. >> right. [laughter] i feel that i have had the good fortune, and i will put it is an opposite to an old friend of my father's and of myself. he was an important german philosopher who was terribly unsuccessful during his life. he never even reached a university doctor, although he was much more contented than those who refuse to give him his doctor. i met him at a time when the french resistance was still very, very small. we have just been defeated as widely as ever in june 1940.

it was a real destruction of our army and of our people. this was a very, very bad moment for france. i had come through it having been arrested by the german army. here i met him. i said we are going to resist. i am going to try to go meet with de gaulle and continue the fight. and he said well, i'm also trying to go over to the united states, but i don't believe in it anymore. i see history as something getting worse and worse and worse, from one catastrophe to another. we are now in the most sad moment of democracy. and russia, soviet union, the

germans, very careful, no, no, no. not to go into the war. that was very important. and britain resisted. but the small country couldn't be invaded quickly. well, he was despondent and, therefore, he killed himself a few weeks later. but i said no, i believe in what de gaulle says. we've lost the war but we haven't lost -- we lost a battle but we haven't lost the war. we must continue to resist. and, finally, he was wrong and i was right. and so that brought me to the idea that this french resistan resistance, one mustn't exaggerate its importance, general eisenhower once said that the french resistance was

the equipment for him of 18 divisions, which is a lot, but obviously the war was won by others and it was by the red army, much for even by our western army. anyhow, let's continue on this idea of the resistance. the message of the resistance seemed to me that it not only because it's always better to believe in the moment of one's own history when people were active fighting and proud of the fight, but also because this group of resistance, workers, gathered together under the leadership and sat down together and drew up a program for the future of us. they drafted it bringing

together all those who had come, all those in common, not ethical party but the idea of resistance. and build out of the a very interesting program. in one of the copies of my book, the program is drafted as an annex. i don't know which language it is. nevermind. the program dealt with such prominence as social security, and independent press. the end of the few doubt he of the financial economy. all these problems, which were very much inspired by beverage in great britain and by franklin roosevelt with the new deal, those came up in this program of the french resistance. 60 years later in the year 2004,

yes, that's about 60 years later, a number of french goods and former resistance, responsible people in the resistance, sat together and said, we are not happy with the way in which france, not happy about the way in which france keeps it tasteful to the message of resistance. let's bring that up. let us make a call. let us publish again this program of the resistance, and let us tell our frenchman, if the french government is not going in that direction we must be against, oppose the french government. that has happened and we had a moment of more different government. so indeed i think that was your

question. is the resistance in common small moment of french history, but is it significant as something that can get you further into making opposition in politics not just oppose but resist. and that i think is perhaps also what could be the message down. we mustn't only think of what is wrong, but the way in which it could be effectively resisted again. there you are. >> you say in your book that the reasons to get angry may seem less clear today than they were to your generation. what are the things that you see around you that you think, that make you angry, that you think are deserving as in the nation

that need to be responded to as a matter of social justice? >> yes. i will say, indignation is an important first movement, but the next movement is of course commitment. and another little book has been written by me and by a friend, which would have called commit yourself, i suppose. it has come out. it's another -- also very nice. and he is a very good person because he's specialist of youth movements. and this little book was more directly aimed at the younger generation. and it is aimed at everybody as last and that's why i'm so grateful. the other one fled success but it is definitely aimed at the young generation, and to tell them you must commit yourself, on what? that is the question become akin to what we said before.

in my generation, in my youth that is to say, it was easy to see where the enemies were. today, where are these forces against which one should commit oneself? that does come out a little bit in this book, franken. it comes out also in the other of the book. and it comes out very much also in books. and they do own at least indicate three very important challenges to our society, our global society today. and i've tried to indicate them in the book as the terribly important challenge of poverty. they've always been poor people and rich people in the world,

but never until the last 20 years perhaps hasn't been such a spread. the rich are always rich. now to earn $100 million a year is not even strange. yes? okay. and not to have $2 a day to survive is the case, the fate of millions of people in our world. that trend is insufferable, and i think anybody who watches it must not only be indignant, not only be outraged, but you must be committed if possible. many people do something about it. many people are working with organizations, movements, unicef and so one, good. what is the real organization

that works for that steadily with great are not great success, but steady, it is the united nations which has its headquarters in this very city of new york, in which has not supported -- [applause] >> so that's the first challenge. let's go on to the second. before everybody leaves the room. [laughter] second challenge is even more obvious, but is much more difficult to encounter. and that is the deterioration of the planet. what does it really mean? is in the forest? is it the climate? is it the water to understand --

is at the water? is the energy? it is all that. we are exploiting our little planet. we know our plan is a wee little bit within the great cosmos, but we also know it's the only place where human beings can live. not even on venus or mars. therefore, we must be careful, and if we know, and we know more and more every day, that it's going in the wrong direction. it's over excited, and he was really holding it back? yes, we are going to have next year in rio de janeiro, 20 years after, a new conference on environment. we have copenhagen in between, but what did the government do? nothing much. not sufficient. there is a second great

challenge. in their i have some hope. i have the hope that young people, when they are informed about that, may become more outraged than on any other subject. and they may feel that really they have a responsibility to do something. the little party in france, which i just quoted, and goes in that direction. and already in a year and a half it has been putting up, there is 10 people in the new senate. so ecology to give this gentlemen is i think very important challenge. and it can be i think cut up into a variety of specific challenges, whether drinking

water or whether it is climate and so one. it is an enormous challenge. the third challenge which i see and which we have not been able to -- if the g8 is care. on that also, there is no passage in my book, so people are writing and doing. how do we approach terrorism? certain not in the way it has been approached after 9/11 by president bush. hitting the afghans taliban was not a result. making a war in iraq was a bad mistake. but there should be ways, there should be intelligent ways of thinking, where does terrorism stem from?

what are the circumstances where terrorism gets hold of the minds of people, the circumstances should be at rest and hopefully change it so there is another big challenge. but i have no answer. [laughter] >> all right. i think that we should turn over to questions from the audience at this point, and then i don't know, nikil, which elected ask one last question or are you ready to invite questions from the audience? >> no, we should turn it to the audience. maybe i have a thought. >> there's a lot of people here. i think we will have questions to ask. so, please. and we do have microphones so that you can be recorded. if you would please, please speak into the microphone.

>> thank you. in your book, you were an important author of the united nations declaration of human rights. could you say something about what you think the relevance of those are today? particularly the call for guaranteed jobs and guaranteed income and guaranteed social services to people? as a universal right for humanity in general. could you say something about your role inviting those and what you think about them, their relevance for today's? >> that is to me a very important question. im considered to be over, overenthusiastic about that text, but i think the text

deserves over enthusiasm. first of all, i always see it was drafted at the time where there was still an enormous belief in utopian future. it was a moment when we thought we had behind us the worst things that can happen to human beings with the second world war, terrible things have happened. and we must now put the accent on something which has never been put into international language, in which is human rights. the league of nation was founded to prevent war and try to have peace. it failed, but it never thought of bringing up something like human rights for all human beings.

it was an extraordinary ambition. again and again, because not only and the result of the charter of the united nations which foresaw that should draft a declaration, a chapter on human rights. it was also the work of eleanor roosevelt, the president's widow, who chaired the commission which drafted that text. now, in that text, if it is looked at with let's say with sympathy and not only with a critical view, it can be criticized. everything can be criticized. but if we look at it with some sympathy, we will find that everything that we still need to be. there isn't a word to be changed. if you take the articles on social rights, the right to social security, the right to a job and the right to school,

it's all in there. and it was drafted into, i must admit, under the pressure of the eastern countries which at the time where members of the united nations, even if some of them abstained from voting for it because of civil and political rights were not entirely satisfactory to them. but to take the text as it is, i think it is still the basic instrument for anybody in the world who is now living in a territorial country or in a corrupt country to say, i want these rights come and they are there in the declaration. they were carried over them to the two packs, and it is a council on human rights who is working on them, and there is a

marvelous high commissioner for human rights, the south african lady, charming lady who is working on it, too. but the declaration itself contains really to my mind all that we accept that, at that time, we didn't realize the situation of the earth. nobody thought at that time that there was a danger of overexploitation of the earth. and that came further and then with the stockholm conference and in the real conference, again, united nations conference. and now it is with us. but far from that which is absent of the declaration of human rights, all the western intel and all the rest you find an article iv, the one article perhaps that was already

doubtful at the time is the right to property. article, i don't remember, 12 perhaps, i'm not sure, the right to property. that, of course, is the property has to be protected and made secure against every danger, then perhaps the objective of the declaration will not easily be achieved. we have to live with that. [applause] >> i have a loud voice. but i will use the mic. >> it is better with the microphone. >> would you comment about the diminution of resistance?

i recall being in france many years ago, and where they are were demonstrations every week. people in the streets everywhere. wherever you were there were demonstrations against the war. and also here as well. and now there are wars all over the place and people are rather casual about the fact that the wars continue, enormous number of people are dying and children are suffering, and enormous amounts of money are being spent. and yet everyone, columbia university i remember, and lots of demonstrations. nothing, very little now.

>> you think about demonstrations against such wars as the one in afghanistan or in libya or in iraq or elsewhere in. no, i'm afraid you're quite right. these wars are considered sort of unavoidable. and that is very sad. one protests, one makes protests to get a job or to get good schools, but one doesn't protest sufficiently against him arms, weapons. the only people who did a marvelous job, handicap international, who protested strongly against means minds against personnel mines, i don't know how it's called. but that's a very minor problem after all.

and you're quite right. it's taken for granted no doubt, well, there are wars, what can we do? think and that is where perhaps we have to look at a basic reform of the united nations. i always come back to my dear united nations. united nations were set up for human rights, but also for the provision of peace. and win wars a breakout, well, they are the blue helmet. my friend brian was the one who gave him the name blue helmets. i always recall the story when the first blue helmets were sent, he said to his friends he was in charge of that. he said how are we going to make them different of all the armies? and somebody said let's call them blue helmets. so they were called.

but the wars that are going on now, and very few of them, blue helmets have been depicted. there are some cases, cambodia, where the blue helmets have been extremely useful. but the united nations has not been able to set in action a real security council without a veto, and a security council with strong authority. my hope i must tell you was that after mr. ban ki-moon, it is a very charming and very able official, but not an inspiring of great visions, if he were succeeded by somebody like the

brazilian ex-president, and that's to my mind would be a very important change your. [applause] because with all the very important things that are being done by the united nations, in the dozens of important fields, in the field of preventing war, putting a stop to war and securing peace, they have failed. and the greatest failure of course is in israel-palestine. why is that problem not yet been solved? because in the security council it is a veto. but by one country, and i'm not sure which is -- [laughter] and, therefore, no progress has been made.

[applause] >> hi. i've been involved in -- >> you must speak louder. >> into the microphone spent i've been involved in the wall street protest for the past week or so, and so i'm very grateful to the chance to hear you speak, and your book has definitely been a huge inspiration for all of us. and wondering if i could ask her by someone issue that we are faced with. [inaudible] some of us feel that demand will help the movement grow and affect concrete change, while others feel it is more effective treatment sort of amorphous and connected to take sentiments of indignation or outrage. and this will help attract as

many people as possible and keep it horizontal. so there are sort of two parts as when you get any advice or input on this debate? >> yes. have you understood it very clearly? the question. >> the question is that she is a protester, one of the protesters on wall street, for a week. and now the movement faces an issue whether they should remain amorphous in order to be democratic, or whether they should focus on a few set of demands, they reached the cross was going is that right? they feel very inspired by a book. >> anyhow, the one thing i think should not be the result of indignation, and that is violence.

the temptation would be to say we have been indignant, and now we are going to hit you the people. shuja book, -- i think the message of the book, success is achieved more by nonviolent determination and by hitting back as the people whom one considers this, one dislikes. but that is always very difficult moment. when one has gone on the streets and one has been strong in once demands, and then one goes home and what is next?

so, that is where we tried with the second book, to say once the manifestation has shown that one is outraged, and then one must try to find nonviolent methods strong enough, in action, and what can use for that modern means. one of the important means of course are the media. and journalists. working with journalists very important. and it is necessary that journalists remain independent enough to be carrying forward in

indignation. if you have a good journal, i understand that there is one that was lately heard in recent times called the nation. apparently a great journal. a journal like the nation can carry forward beyond the immediate movement something that will be felt widely. so i would say my answer to your question is what do we do next after we had been indignant, we tried to get good journalists to continue the fight. all i can hope for. [applause] >> i think will take just two more questions. in addition office traffic around the world, a ride from paris this afternoon so it is very late for them but i think will take two more quick questions, and then we will

thank him and letting go to get some rest. i think there is a question back here. >> i have a question. the flight enjoyment, you talked about property in the human rights. and it seems that the idea of property and the rulings recently that a corporation, capitalist corporation is a person by the u.s. supreme court, strengthened the position of capitalism and property and all these sort of things. how can engagement deal with the problem of property? because i see the other points that you mentioned incher book, poverty enrichment, the environment and terrorism all related to that.

how do you deal with the problem of excessive greed, and how do you move to compassion and engagement, and how do you move from indignation to effective action? >> there, basic question. let us start with property. it is true that this article in the declaration of human rights was of course brought forward very strongly by the market economy. market economy cannot work if property is not protected. and at the same time, market economy in terms of speculative finance it's also dangerous to property. so, it must be i think considered as something that gives you responsibility for the property of others.

you should be made secure in your property owned if that property is not extended beyond the normal needs of the proprietor. so it is true that when we drafted the new you in declaration, the countries which worked on the market economy and on capitalism, where needed to ascertain their views as against those who already lived at that time in economies, because they were present in the room. now i think we have grown, the feeling has grown that not only

communism is dead after the falling of the berlin wall, but that socialism is also in danger because it may lead to ministry, and we must protect the freedom of the market. they are we can go beyond what is ethically acceptable. it's not administered economy that we need, but we need social democracy. we have a real need for the protection of the underprivileged. i always come back on that, that we live in a world where there is such a distance between the privileged and the underprivileged, that any government which wants to consider himself as democratic,

therefore having him peeking for the demos and not only for the oligarchy, he must have a social policy. and limit the power of the market, and let not the market go wild. i'm afraid that what we call result here is the washington consensus, with milton friedman and others, that was going in the direction that we can no longer accept to support. [applause] >> okay, one last short question right here. >> thank you. so, thank you. being an african i am more concerned about issue in africa.

politically or economically, in general, in 2007 africa still find it hard to work through developmental. according to, what are major issues that impede african countries, sub-saharan countries? thank you. spent the most important in my mind, thing for africa is that the aid given to africa, which is normal and needed, because africa is the poorest part of the various areas of this world. but that aid can be more dangerous than it can be useful. if those who receive it are not masters of the way in which it is being distributed, we have

seen periods where ted was channeled through the heads of state in african country. and these heads of state themselves had been secretly brought to power by outside powers who were happy to have their persons with whom they can have good bargains for themselves. now, more than ever the african youth, fortunately, understands that it has to get rid of presidents that are not really concerned with the well being of the people, but more concerned with their own power and their own wealth. that is what is needed. no country, to my mind, can

become affluent rich with only the help from outside. even if that helps sometimes can bring important elements, and it can be humane and useful for hunger, like the world food program. but the coming up of a strong africa, it begins, a country like god is good, mozambique, very good job. some countries began to understand the way in which they could develop, but we have still a lot to learn about how to be usefully partners of africa. and not only what the chinese are doing at present, which is

buying land, and that is dangerous for africa, because land has to be used for agriculture and not for bioenergy. so, the problem of africa is one of those that has given me most thought. and, therefore, my answer to your question is all too brief. we could have a long, long conversation about this sometime, but not today. [applause] ..

>> by clicking share on the upper left side of the page and selecting the format. booktv streams live online for 48 hours every weekend with top nonfiction books and authors. booktv.org. >> and now, more from booktv's cities tour. this weekend we visit birmingham, alabama. coming up next, an interview with the author of "while the world watched." >> what i remember when the bomb exploded, i remember not really thinking that it was a bomb. i, the first thought that i had was maybe that it was thunder or something. the sound made me think of thunder. but as quickly as i thought

that, the windows came crashing in. and i heard someone inside the church say, "hit the floor." and when i fell on the floor, i could tell after a few seconds, i could hear feet, i could tell people were getting up, running out. so my first thought was for those two younger brothers that i had brought with me. i knew that before i could leave or go to safety, i would need to figure out where they were. so i went outside and searched downstairs and upstairs and was never able to find my brothers there at the church. we would find them later in a different part of the community. september 15th started as a very routine day. it was sunday morning, i was trying to coax my sister into getting her hair combed, and finally my mother said, just leave her here, i'll bring her later with me. so my two younger brothers, alan and wendell, left with me.

my oldest brother dropped us off at church, and we arrived right about 9:30. and after putting them in their classes, i went upstairs to the church office to gather my, my equipment i guess i could call it. but i was responsible for taking attendance, and i was responsible for recording the financial giving for the day and then creating a summary report that i would give later. so i did this, collected all of these reports, passed them out, then i sat in my sunday school class for a while. and generally about 9:15 i would get up, collect those reports and create the summary. on this particular sunday we were very excited. all of the young people were excited because it was youth sunday. that just meant that we were in charge of everything. we sang, we gave the devotion, we did the ushering, we did everything. so we were excited about that. as i started up the stairs to

complete those reports, i passed the bathroom where my friends were, and i spoke to them, and they were combing hair and talking and just everybody excited in their own way about different things. but i didn't linger there because of the report, and be as i started up the steps when i reached the top, the phone was ringing in the church office. in those days the church office was right behind the sanctuary. so when i reached the church office and heard the phone ring, i went in and answered out. mrs. shorter, whom i worked under, was not there, and the caller, male caller on the other end said "three minutes." and as quickly as he said that, he hung up. so i still had my items in my arms, my materials in my arm, and i just turned and walked out into the sanctuary and only because we counted it, i know that i took about 15 steps before the bomb exploded.

>> what was the last thing that you had said to them before you left them in the path room? >> "see you later," when i passed the bathroom. last thing i said, "see you later." birmingham was a very segregated place during that time. it was, um, a very difficult, dark and difficult place during that time. as a young person probably prior to the age of 14, we did not experience a lot of the difficult days. our parents did such a great job of sheltering us. many of our activities were provided for us right here at the church and in the schools so that we didn't miss the places that we could not go or the places we were not allowed the go. they provided picnics and swimming parties and contests and just all kinds of activities right here at the church. so we didn't really know to what extempt we were missing --

extent we were missing a lot of things. i think that our parents did not want us to know that there were a lot of restrictions out beyond the home parameters. and so for many things they just didn't tell us about it. they sheltered us. when, for example, they opened the first fast food place, the jack's hamburgers, rather than allow us to know that they did not serve people, rather that have us go to a side window when they did serve them, they just kept us at home, and they always told us that it was about money. that they didn't have the money to do these things. and, um, so in a real way we did not know many of the barriers that existed out there. it was a real gift in a lot of ways not knowing that the barriers were there. there were no imaginary barriers in our minds saying we can't do this because of those people or this person or whatever. we really grew up thinking that we could do anything that we

wanted. we could be anyone that we wanted to be. this was stressed a lot in my elementary school and my high school. i guess they felt we would find out soon enough what things were possible and what things weren't. but they really did a tremendous job of preparing us so that if opportunities came, we would be ready. i think our church was just heartbroken. they were, you know, young, innocent girls. they had not been part of the movement, they had not served in any way with that. and they had their full life ahead of them. they were all very bright, very smart young girls in school, and in two of the cases they were the only children, denise and cynthia were the only children that their parents had. so the church was really shocked that we had people in our city

who were willing not only to kill young chirp in the name of -- young children in the name of segregation, but to bomb a house of worship to maintain that. and we were away from our church about eight months during the renovation, but we had many members who did not come back. some did not come back because they were afraid. they thought it would happen again or something new would happen. some did not come back just because they thought that the church would continuously be having mass meetings and so forth. i would venture to say we probably had half of the congregation to return after the renovation. so the church reacted very strongly to what happened there. it was a very painful experience. i can tell you that prior to this experience i was just a young girl growing up in a house with four brothers who picked on me a lot, but life was good. i had very loving parents, both

my parents were teachers. we had a lot of fun at home. after the bombing of the church, a lot of things changed. i think we all probably became a little more quiet, we became a little more fearful. we had heard these bombs going off for years, but all of a sudden it was very real because we had lost four of our friends. i struggled with it tremendously because i was trying to understand as a child of 14, trying to understand what could make this situation right. if this was all about the color of your skin, what could make it right? what, after all, were we supposed to do about that? we understand that we can't change the parents to whom we're born, our gender, our color. so what were we supposed to do differently? that's what i kept trying to figure out. and, um, it became just a very

troubling thought or obsession that i carried around, and i didn't understand. and six months after they bombed this church, they bombed a house across the street from where i was growing up. so with that second bomb i became convinced, i can tell you i was afraid most of the time wherever i was, wherever i was traveling, when i went off to school. i was just convinced that sooner or later i was going to die from one of the bombs that was exploding in birmingham. so i found myself for many years after that, probably about 20 years, suffering from depression at a time when we didn't call it depression. but it took a long time to sort through the things that had happened here in birmingham and to understand them and to put them in perspective. what made me decide to write the book was just the resurgence of mean-spiritedness that i began to see.

i really felt that america had reached a crossroad many years after the bombing of the church. i really felt that america had looked back and had looked at all of the mistakes we had made in our country and that they were committed to moving forward in a positive way for all of its citizens. and when i began to realize and to see things that were contradictory to that, i decided that perhaps we had forgotten many of the lessons that we had learned during the '60s. in many cases we hadn't taught those lessons, but in other cases we had forgotten. so i decided that i would go back and recapture the memories of a 14-year-old from the bombing of the church. >> is there a nonfiction author or book you'd like to see featured on booktv? send us an e-mail at booktv@cspan.org or tweet us at twitter.com/booktv. >> booktv is on twitter.

follow us for regular updates on our programming and news on nonfiction books and authors. twitter.com/booktv. >> up next, booktv interviewed jake reese, the owner of alabama booksmith, during our recent visit to birmingham, alabama, as part of our cities tour examining the literary culture of eight southern cities. >> in these tough economic times, how has business been? >> i'm almost embarrassed. it's been great. we, we have a unique situation, and we're selling the product, the thing, the books. you pay your $24.95 for your book or thereabouts, and you get your entertainment, pleasure from reading it. once you get through, you have a wonderful, warm, fuzzy book

that's signed by the author to put on your shelf and, hopefully, someday it might send your grand kids to column. it's a sad thing when any bookstore closes whether it's a chain or a big box or one of our fellow independents. it's not good, a foreboding sign, but there are bookstores around the country contrary to what many of your viewers think that are thriving. our business is phenomenal, it's grown every year, and we've found that those bookstores around the country that have a niche, that specialize whether it's mysteries or lesbian and gay or children's or cookbooks, if a bookstore like us, we specialize in signed copies, and folks in our neighborhood, in our city, in our state, region, the entire country, we've got customers in every part of the country and lots of international customers. when they think of signed

copies, think they of us. and i'm sure those who have found their niche in children's have customers around the world. we provide electronic books, and we selleck tronic books on our web site. it's really easy. we just click, we don't have to do anything. the american booksellers association does all the heavy lifting. but it's a minor part of our business. our folks literally around the world have become accustomed to the product, the book, the bound book that's signed by the author. the author who wrote that book wrote in your copy. there are many bookstores around the country who are the very core of their neighborhood or their little part of the city. and that's where folks congregate. so there are two, those two areas of book selling will b