Sold one “Goshkin.” The buyer was a Mended Hearts colleague. In fact, it was my visit to him when he was in the hospital that led him to join.
And received an order for two “Lollipop”s from an ex-client, now friend, one for him, one for a buddy. (He couldn’t hack the SASE business, so he sent a more-than-covered-it check.)
“Cheesesteak” drew a couple ex-Philadelphians to my table, but the connection moved no one enough to buy. One was a thirty-ish fellow, in t-shirt supporting “Sustainable Growth,” had gone to Lower Merion. (“My father went to Harriton, and my grandmother wrote for ‘The Main Line Times.’”)
The other was a slightly older woman, accompanied by a friend, both in black sweats, both with hair in pony tails, probably stopping by the café after a walk or jog or yoga class. “She’s from New York,” the Philadelphian said of her friend.
“Close enough,” I said. “You had an adolescence?”
“I had an adolescence.”
“Perfect. You’ll love it.”
I gave everybody my card. I told them I was here three mornings a week.
Still waiting.
In other news…
A cartoonist semi-pal let me know that Malcolm Gladwell had “quoted extensively” from “The Pirates and the Mouse” in a podcast.
“How ‘extensively’?” I said. “Beyond fair use? Can I sue?”
He e-mailed me a Voice Recognitionized partial transcript. The most salient read, “(L)et me just quote you from the completely nuts account of the saga and the writer Bob Leven…”
I know you’re not supposed to care as long as they spell your name right, but he didn’t spell my name right and it sounds like my account was ‘completely nuts’ and not the saga.
On a more positive notes, my editor’s feedback on the first eight chapters of “Lollipop” are in, so we are moving along there.
Speaking of which, for a free copy of this thrilling account of my stint as a VISTA lawyer on the South Side of Chicago (Sept. 1967 – Sept. 1968) send one of those aforementioned SASEs to POB 9492, Berkeley 94709.
[All my books, some “Pirates,” “pre-owned,” are available at www.theboblevin.com.]
So many Bob Levins on the Internet; I'm the Bob Levin who writes.