My first real job was working in a B. Dalton Booksellers store in Prairie Village, Kansas. My manager was John Hamann. He was the nicest, most well-read manager I’ve ever had in any job. That starts with niceness at your core, but reading seemed to make him an even better person than that.
The scent of printed reading material was central to my teenage existence, thanks to hours-long drop-offs at the local library, a literary mentor and a penchant for poetry, theater, Omni magazine, science fiction and novels. It would only grow stronger as I worked at different times at bookstores in Kansas City, Chicago and Lexington, Kentucky. Along the way, I saw a warehouse worth of manuscripts and review copies.
More than 45 years since that first job, a stocking cart’s worth of book pitches and review copies have been coming our way these past months, including the book at the center of this issue’s North Carolina spotlight, “Miracle Road: The Story of Research Triangle Park,” which traces the history of RTP and sets the stage for the new RTP 3.0 strategic vision. We value Mack Paul’s contribution to this issue and appreciate his in-depth conversation with Senior Editor Alexis Elmore about the work he and his father Allen completed for the book before his father’s death in May.
Other books crossing my desk include “Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves” by Nicola Twilley, winner of the James Beard Award for Literary Writing and a reference point as I looked into cold chain facility tallies for this issue’s logistics report. “The Cost of Cool: Austin’s Tech Growth and the People Left Behind” is by Jon Roberts, managing partner at TIP Strategies Inc., an Austin-based consulting firm familiar to Site Selection readers. Read more about Austin, San Antonio and other hot spots in this issue’s Texas spotlight.
On different portions of my desk, there are books on top of books, set at different angles. Out my door I see shelves of books authored by our founder Mac Conway. These scenes complement my home decor, where monoliths of unread New Yorker issues grew so high we had to stop my subscription. I continue to chisel away at stacks of chairside and bedside books.
But it appears that my natural life expectancy is not going to allow me to read all the books I want to read. So I focus on what moves me or compels my interest the most. And I give myself permission to stop reading if it does neither.
Good, curated reading is a habit we cultivate at Site Selection because it cultivates good writing in turn. We hope what we write continues to compel your interest, supplement your business intelligence, spark connections, feed your curiosity and even occasionally move your heart.
We are told we need to “touch grass.” My corollary: Touch a book. Then tuck into it like you would your favorite meal after a long journey. You deserve it. If you’re like me, the journey it takes you on may even make you feel like a better person.
