Worlds Collide
So this is odd.
Some of you may know that before I started writing fantasy professionally, I worked in medical publishing for 10 years. I wore a lot of hats in that career: editor, project manager, copyeditor, proofreader, art director, print production supervisor, vendor manager, and probably a bunch I’m forgetting. One of my regular duties throughout this time was to acquire medical mailing lists for direct mail. Basically, if we were writing up a report about, say, some new cancer drug, I would go to list vendors and find out how many doctors specialized in that kind of cancer and what their addresses were.
Thrilling, I know. It’s no wonder I spent most of my time living in a fantasy world in my head. Now, more than two years out of that career, it seems like someone else’s life sometimes.
Anyway, after I blogged about the Warded Bookplates last week, I received an e-mail from the address “Bookplatemaven” that read as follows:
From: Lewis Jaffe
Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 6:08 AM
To: peat@www.petervbrett.com
Subject: Bookplate
Dear Peat,
Splendid .Your bookplate is quite nice.
A copy when available would be most appreciated.
I could , if you like, write about it on my blog: Http://bookplatejunkie.blogspot.com
Lewis Jaffe
Philadelphia, Pa.
I checked out the blog, and sure enough, it’s a site devoted to a man’s 30-year hobby of collecting bookplates. Amazing. Apart from my personal childhood experience as noted in my post, I didn’t realize there was such a fascinating history behind bookplates. This post is my favorite.
But the thing that really struck me was the man’s name. I used to buy mailing lists from a Lew Jaffe quite a bit back in the day. He was an old-school sales rep, who would come to my office every once in a while for face to face meetings, and we even had lunch a couple of times. Nice guy. I thought about it, and wondered how many Lew Jaffes there could be in Philadelphia. Probably not that many. So I wrote and asked him if he used to sell mailing lists. An hour later, I got this response:
From: Lewis Jaffe
Sent: Monday, February 08, 2010 1:50 PM
To: Peter V. Brett
Subject: Re: Bookplate
Dear Peter,
I am the one.
This is beyond coincidence. It must be divine providence.
About three years ago I retired and now I have enough time to pursue my hobbies.
Regards,
Lew Jaffe
Bizarre. And true to his word, Lew included me in his latest post.
It really is amazing, the effects of the internet. Not how the the world has become smaller and more accessible due to things like facebook and blogspot, but also how it has freed people to glory in their hobbies and share that love with a wide audience. No matter what it is you’re into, there are others in the world who share your interests, and the internet can bring you together. Sometimes, that love can even reunite old acquaintances.
You often hear people lamenting that they wish they could live in a simpler time, or that the world was a better place when they were kids, but I think that’s crap. I wouldn’t live in any other time than this one, and the future looks bright.
Man, you are so right about effects of the ‘net! Never before could I have imagined – let alone felt the urge to – read a blog on bookplates and yet, just through your mentioning of it, there I go….
Small World Syndrome strikes again!
Loooove the bookplate – Twilight Dancer is so cool!