Remember awhile back I wrote about Shelton S. Jackson found here http://troynotorious.blogspot.com/2009/03/his-story-our-story.html and how he and his work, writings and so on went unnoticed and unfinished due to his passing in late February. Well, ladies and gentlemen here’s another chapter in this ever turning world of ours.
Turned to Lambda Rising bookstore in good ole D.C. and while for the most part they were helpful they knew nothing of Shelton and were intrigued when I went into the who and why of it all and my dire request for his now impossible to find books.
Cute but pleasantly friendly the sales help were at a loss and tried to search high and low in the store’s inventory for anything Shelton S. Jackson, might’ve written.
Inside my head as I was standing there retelling who he was and so on, I felt sooo embarrassed and bad for not having bought his work early on, skimming through the books at bookstores is a bad habit and this time this trait was haunting me and killing me.
Long story short, the store personnel promised to call as soon as any of his work became available. My name and number sat online in their request section on their website feeling as lonely and lost as the retelling of it all.
Second physical trip into Lambda Rising bookstore: Why am I haunting this store, they said they would call --yet no call; still no trace of his books and not a single dent of me finding Mr. Jackson’s work anywhere. However I did learn he was self published. Which I think this to mean, that Shelton published his own writings and it would be his family’s decision after his passing, to green light any further or second publications. The plot thickens..
Sidebar: the book collectors as many as a zillion, very DL and ever hungry as ever; bought out all the Shelton S. Jackson written books that there were upon hearing of him passing, making my own journey to getting anything by him almost impossible.
“Why don’t you try Amazon dot com” Is what I constantly keep hearing. Gone are the days of actually finding the source and getting it done in real time and real space.
But what does this say about our work and our lives.
Are we significant and does the work we do matter? Who will remember us and why should they even care.
Maybe my not being able to buy and find Shelton S. Jackson’s work is the kick in the ass or head it was intended to be.
Oh yeah, the libraries I insisted through email and phone call that they carry his work, replied with general pre-typed script that all inquiries would go through the proper channels and a decision would be made from there; severe nails driven through his coffin could not have hurt any less. I’ll keep on this maybe there’s a light at the end of this tunnel, gotta be.
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3 comments:
I was fortunate enough to read with Shelton at Lambda Rising DC. I'll look around and see if I can find some copies here in Baltimore for you
Thank you a million times. Wow and after I wrote this I was thinking maybe I should ask or reach out and your response came right on time. Thank you!
I also read your blog from time to time but never really take the time to comment; your work is excellent.
Thanks for sharing Shelton's story.
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