Orby goes swizzle stick. (Photo – Erin Carr)

Last night, Thursday August 27th, I had a special pre-release book pickup at Union Street.

The construction because of the light rail on Woodward, or as I have heard it called “People Mover 2: Electric Boogaloo”, is a real pain. But, a lot of super cool friends, supporters, and people who were there doing the run of White Noise, Fun, and Orbit came to pick up their copies of the book.

Union Street was gracious enough to offer their Michigan Room to me for the event. Plus, I had one of the best Mac & Cheese dinners since I got back to Detroit. You know how you know it was good? I was eating it cold, because I was so busy, and it was still great!

It was really an honor to meet up with two groups of people who helped to make it all happen: the donors and the subjects.

It was so much fun to connect with folks who loved the magazine and put their money down to help make the book as beautiful as it is. When you meet another fan who misses Orbit, you know you share something that others don’t understand. Well, hopefully this book will kick them upside their heads, metaphorically, and get them to realize – as we do – the amazing talent, art, humor, and attitude Detroit creates and sends out to the world.

John Dickerson, he took Orby to Oxford & started “Orbit UK”.
Did you know that? It’s in the book. (Photo by Marcia Smith)

At the same time, the subjects are those who made it possible. I can’t really say enough about how EVERYONE – intern to publisher – at Orbit did an amazing thing for me well over 20 years ago: they helped to shape and sharpen my sense of humor and how I see the world. It’s a debt that can’t be repaid. All I could do was tell their story, try to find out as much as I could, and share it with the world.

It’s only been a few days since I’ve started giving books to some of the people involved, and selfishly, I love the reactions. They remark on the size of the book, the beauty of the layout/design, and always find something in the reprints that makes them laugh along with a story to tell. Some even tear up. They often “thank” me for doing it. I tell them, “you made this possible. Thanks for indulging my obsession.”

Your humble author. (Photo by Bill McGraw)

I hope you get a chance to get your copy soon.

If you haven’t pre-ordered, and your can’t make a book event, you can get yours at deep discount until the 31st through the WSU Press website. 

But, I really hope you can make it to a book event, so I can say “thanks” and we can talk about all this crazy stuff. Because, believe me, there’s a lot to talk about when we talk about Orbit. I know, I spent 4 years writing it, and I’m still learning.

CHEERS!
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