A Note of Thanks

Note: Since this was written we have obviously launched an online edition, you're reading it... we still think you should get yourself a physical copy, but you don't need to listen. The internet is brimming with noisy evangelists whose message is that we must simplify our lives, and disentangle ourselves from the clutter that keeps us from being happy. As they do so, they do not scruple about encumbering themselves with the clutter of our superfluous currency. Nonetheless, these apostles of minimalism (of whom a certain Marie Kondo is the reigning high priestess) have inveigled many thousands to rid themselves of the accumulated possessions that do not, as Ms. Kondo says, “spark joy.” Though a glance at my own domicile might suggest that I’m taking more decorating tips from Langley Collyer than from Marie Kondo, I look with some dismay on the minimalist life. As my contemporaries are flinging away physical media, knowing that it all may be stored on The Cloud and that all information reposes on the internet, my own rationale for holding onto these artifacts is that Someday I Am Going to Need Them. Yesterday, that actually happened. To research my thumbnail bio of Eddie South, I sought information that should have been freely available on the web, and everything online referred to everything else online. There was a paucity of biographical material—and much of that