Spafford Books

06/04/2026

Our civilization is flinging itself to pieces. Stand back from the centrifuge.

Professor Faber to Guy Montag,
Fahrenheit 451, Ballantine Books: 1953

Ray Bradbury, in full Ray Douglas Bradbury,
b. August 22, 1920, d. June 5, 2012

Bradbury also warned in an interview, “You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.”

Fahrenheit 451 was written in the early years of the Cold War, at a time when many Americans feared Communist infiltration and the destruction of their values and communities. Critics have compared the story to the witch hunt of Senator Joseph McCarthy and the censorship and conformity it had sparked.

The book is a critique of what Bradbury saw as the biggest issues in that era in American history.

Two of his early short stories, ‘The Pedestrian’ and ‘Bright Phoenix’ taken from ‘The Martian Chronicles’ (1950) were merged to became ‘The Fireman’, a novella published in the February 1951 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction magazine. Ballantine Books (Bradbury’s publisher) suggested that he expand the story and make it into a novel. The Fireman was then edited, revised, and expanded, and the world was presented with Fahrenheit 451, first published as a novel by Ballantine Books in New York on October 19, 1953. A limited-edition of 200 signed copies was also released by the publisher later that month. More about them in a bit.

The book has never gone out of print, it has sold more than 10 million copies, and has been translated into at least 33 languages since it was first released.

As you may know, it’s a dystopian story, one of a man (Guy Montag) who burns books to prevent the dissemination of ideas, but who comes to realize the error (and horror) of the choices he’s made. The novel is full of surprises, contradictions, and misconceptions.

The temperature 451°F, to clarify, refers to the auto-ignition point of paper. What this means is, the temperature at which paper will burn when not exposed to an external flame. Books will ignite at temperatures between 440°F and 480°F, dependent on the density and type of paper.

Bradbury had said that Adolf Hi**er was the inspiration for the novel. When he (Bradbury) was 15, Hi**er had burned the books in the streets of Berlin. Then he (Bradbury) learned about the libraries that had been burned some 5000 years ago in Alexandria.These things hit him hard and his soul mourned. Self-educated, he felt that his teachers, that is, the libraries and their books, were (are) all endangered, that his heroes could die. He thought that, and I think he was right, if book burning happened in Alexandria and happened in Berlin, it could happen anywhere, anytime.

Bradbury and his wife, Marguerite McClure, had two young children at the time. He needed a quiet place so he could write, but they couldn’t afford to rent a space. In an interview with the National Endowment for the Arts (2005), he’d said: “I was wandering around the UCLA library and discovered there was a typing room where you could rent a typewriter for 10 cents a half-hour. So I went and got a bag of dimes. The novel began that day and nine days later it was finished. But my God, what a place to write that book! I ran up and down stairs and grabbed books off the shelf to find any kind of quote and ran back down and put it in the novel. The book wrote itself in nine days, because the library told me to do it.” Those few in-library days cost him, by his own estimate, just under $10 and translated to about 49 hours of writing.

The aforementioned limited edition of approximately 200 copies (though I’d read there’s a letter from Bradbury that suggests the number was closer to 215) was published in late October, 1953.
These were bound in something called ‘Johns-Manville quinterra’, a white chrysolite asbestos material so they couldn’t burn. These copies have exceptional resistance to pyrolysis, which is, I learned, decomposition brought on by high temperatures. They were all numbered and signed.

Bradbury had feared, perhaps had predicted, that television would be the death of reading and that it could (would) extinguish a crucial part of our collective humanity. “Television gives you the dates of Napoleon, but not who he was”, he’d said. He also said that TV is “mostly trash”.

That said, he would write more than 600 works and allow his short stories and novels to be adapted for TV. He also wrote screenplays for ‘Alfred Hitchcock Presents’, ‘The Twilight Zone’, and his own anthology series, ‘The Ray Bradbury Theater’ that ran for six seasons (1985 - 1992).

Though he is considered to be a master of the science fiction genre, Bradbury regarded the rest of his work to be fantasy.

When the Fahrenheit 451 came out, headphones were enormous. In the book, Bradbury imagined ‘the little Seashells, the thimble radios’, which rested in the ear canal, and played ‘an electronic ocean of sound’ to Guy Montag's sleeping wife. Although in-ear headphones had seen registered patent decades before, it was Bradbury’s ‘seashells’ that went from science fiction to science truth when Jony Ive, the Apple designer, debuted earbuds in 2001, the forerunners to AirPods.

The novel makes it clear that Bradbury treasured the printed word. He refused for years to let 451 be released as an ebook. He was asked in 2009 if he'd allow one of his books to be put online; his immediate response to the publishers was “To hell with you and to hell with the internet. It's distracting. It's meaningless; it's not real. It's in the air somewhere.”

In 2011, Bradbury, then 91 years old, caved. Simon & Schuster had offered him an alleged seven-figure deal that included the rights to publish an e-book version of Fahrenheit 451.

Fahrenheit 451 and Ray Bradbury have won several distinctions. The book has sold well over 10 million copies, earned critical acclaim, and is considered one of the major novels of the 20th century. It has won several awards, including: The American Academy of Arts and Letters Award in Literature (1954). Commonwealth Club of California Gold Medal (1954). A Prometheus ‘Hall of Fame’ Award’ and a Retro Hugo for Best Novel (1954). Bradbury also received two other Retro Hugo Awards, the first for Best Fanzine (1939)and the other for ‘King of the Gray Spaces’ (2019). He received the CableACE Award for best dramatic series for ‘The Ray Bradbury Theater’ in 1993, as well as others in various categories and years. His script for ‘The Halloween Tree’ won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Writing in an Animated Program (1944). He got a Bram Stoker Award for ‘One More for the Road’, a collection of 25 short stories (2002). A Lifetime Achievement Award (1988) also from the Bram Stoker Awards and a Spoken Word Grammy nomination for the audiobook (1976) that he read himself.

There’s an underground band of rebels in 451 who memorize the great works of literature to preserve the written word. Bradbury was asked which book he'd choose to memorize. He answered, “It would be ‘A Christmas Carol’. I think that book has influenced my life more than almost any other book, because it's a book about life, it's a book about death. It's a book about triumph.”

Seventy three years later, Fahrenheit 451 holds the rare distinction as both a literary classic and an eternal bestseller.

Photographs:

Ray Bradbury by Helen Miljakovich (1951)

First edition, first printing
Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451, Ballantine Books (1953)

One of the limited-edition run of 200 signed copies released by the publisher in late October 1953, bound in asbestos, to make them fireproof. A reputable advert informed me that a first edition copy in fine condition of the limited issue asbestos binding, hand-numbered and signed by the author on the colophon would sell today for somewhere around $45,000 USD.

NOTE TO READERS:

Spafford Books currently has in their collection a copy of The Limited Editions Club (LEC) issue of Fahrenheit 451. The LEC was a subscription-based membership book club started in 1929 by publisher George Macy. Limited edition books were sent to members’ homes every month, first restricted to print runs of 1,500 copies and then to 2,000 in later years. The LEC books were printed on high-quality paper with illustrations done by well known artists, some of whom were not associated with the book-making business (Picasso, Matisse, Rodin). All the books came with their own slipcase and ‘The Club’s Monthly Letter’, a two or four page newsletter that gave backstories about the author and illustrator and explained how typefaces, paper, printing houses, and binderies were selected.

Our copy, Number 1688 of 2000 printed, is signed to the limitation page by both Bradbury and Joseph Mugnaini, the artist of the fiery four-colour lithographs. The cover is wrapped in heavy aluminum with title printed in black on front cover and spine. Silver aluminum edges all ‘round, created “to simulate a book so durable that it would be able to resist a heat of 451 degrees—‘the temperature at which book paper catches fire and burns.’”, states the Monthly Letter. Housed in a sturdy aluminum covered cardboard slipcase. The Monthly Letter of The Limited Editions Club: Number 527 August 1982 series 45 Vol. 4 is laid in. The tome is in fine condition. There is some light wear to the slipcase, as may be anticipated. The price point is significantly lower than an asbestos edition and this copy clearly holds its own in terms of attractiveness and durability. Photos available upon request. Please call or message directly if interested. Beautiful copy. Stunning, really.

If you see something that doesn't look right, or if you are interested in any of the books associated with our posts, please contact us directly at http://spaffordbooks.ca/, through Messenger, or phone 306.525.4910. If the book you want is not in stock, copies may be brought in for you. Please, and I cannot stress this enough, buy direct and/or local. Thank you.

We respectfully acknowledge that we work and live on Treaty 4 lands, the unceded territories of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda, and the traditional homelands of the Métis/Michif Nation.

05/27/2026

We are getting one of these, should anyone care to explore it with us. They had me at questionable decisions. 100% Canadian made with Canadian Humour.

https://e-upgames.com/products/american-dictator-board-game

Caution/Enticement: There may be cocktails involved.

Take control of the Pentagon! Twenty American cities are up for grabs, and you need to control as many as you can to win. Includes: Large foldable game board 58 QUESTIONABLE DECISION cards 20 City Cards 6 men's ties (player pieces) 42 upgrades: 16 golf courses, 14 resorts, 12 towers 2 x 6-sided dice...

05/15/2026

An evening of readings from 3 exceptional Saskatchewan authors. At the Artesian for the Cathedral Cathedral Village Arts Festival! Doors at 6; authors at 7.

University of Regina Press and Spafford Books present three exceptional Saskatchewan writers: Jesse Rae Archibald Barber, Ken Wilson, and Louise Bernice Halfe Skydancer.

There will be a panel discussion about the role of the land in their writings and our efforts towards reconciliation.

05/10/2026

Fellow booksellers of the world, I know we have all googled ZOOMBOOKS in the last few weeks and have gotten what seems to be a somewhat logical (terrifying) answer, but in case you need more? Here. Book Haven in New Zealand sums it up nicely. Welcome to the end of the world. At least, as we know it.




https://bookhaven.co.nz/blogs/blogs/is-ai-sucking-up-all-knowledge-including-here?fbclid=IwY2xjawRt5ClleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFnb3dsNG9oZk9ZZDVEazd4c3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHnB4aOW-rp4HQI-GkDX9vPXzUUFxWn6eaE7GQDYfqM9ZqedvsMxR3LkDdk7j_aem_2ALabEcRkVCK84QaPujMkg

Anthropic Project Panama ZoomBooks

04/28/2026

Harper Lee, born Nelle Harper Lee,
b. April 28, 1926, d. February 19, 2016

American novelist whose novel ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ (1960) won the Pulitzer Prize in 1961 and went on to become a classic of modern American literature.

When Truman Capote, her childhood friend, began to write his book ‘In Cold Blood’ (1966), Lee went to Kansas with him. She did much of the research work and contributed more than 150 pages of notes, conducted key interviews, sketched maps of the crime scene, bridged gaps and built trust with the local folks, and even tracked down the killers' planned route, all of which were critical to the book's phenomenal success. Considered by many to be the original true crime novel and by some to be the first nonfiction novel, In Cold Blood is also the second-best-selling book in the true crime genre, second only to ‘Helter Skelter’, Vincent Bugliosi’s book about the Charles Manson murders, published in 1974. Lee was not credited as a co-author, mentioned only in the acknowledgments, and this snub dampened their relationship significantly. ‘Go Set a Watchman’, the earlier draft of Mockingbird but set at a later date, was published on July 14, 2015 and ‘The Land of Sweet Forever’, a collection of her short stories and essays, on October 21, 2025.

The recipient of numerous accolades and honorary degrees, Lee was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2007 by President George W. Bush for her contribution to literature. She received the National Medal of Arts in 2010, awarded by President Barack Obama for her ‘outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts’. The latter is the highest award of its kind given by the United States government.

Harper Lee died of a stroke in her sleep on the morning of February 19, 2016. She was 89. Lee is buried in Hillcrest Cemetery in her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama.

Photo:
Harper Lee in Monroeville by Donald Uhrbrock, Life Magazine: 1961

We make every effort to be accurate and fair minded with the information posted.

If you see something that doesn't look right, or if you are interested in any of the books associated with our posts, please contact us directly at http://spaffordbooks.ca/, through Messenger, or phone 306.525.4910. If the book you want is not in stock, copies may be brought in for you. Please, and I cannot stress this enough, buy direct and/or local. Thank you.

We respectfully acknowledge that we work and live on Treaty 4 lands, the unceded territories of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda, and the traditional homelands of the Métis/Michif Nation.

04/24/2026

Come hang with us, Oxford Style!

04/23/2026

April 23 is World Book and Copyright Day or International Day of the Book.

Why April 23rd (you may wonder)? World Book and Copyright Day marks the death anniversary of legendary writers like Shakespeare and Cervantes.

The first World Book Day was celebrated on April 23, 1995. Every year, since 2001, as part of celebrations for World Book and Copyright Day, as selected by UNESCO, and international organizations that represent the major sectors of the book industry (publishers, booksellers and libraries) choose a World Book Capital. The selected cities promote books and reading for all age groups and across all of society, in their host country and beyond. UNESCO has designated 26 World Book Capitals (Madrid, Spain) and this year, it’s to Rabat, Morocco.

Books have the power to bridge the space between generations and across cultures. They introduce us to new people, adventures, ideas.

Multilingual books and learning materials play a key role in literacy. Children who learn to read and write in their mother tongue have the greatest opportunity for best outcomes.

As part of UNESCO’s action plan for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022–2032, this year they partnered with publishers from around the world to present ‘What Makes Us Human’, an illustrated children’s book by Victor D.O. Santos and Anna Forlati published in 2024. I’d read that editions have been published in several languages, but was disappointed that of those listed, the only ones listed from the First Peoples’ languages of the Americas were: Mapuzugun, Hñahñú, ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian), Itza’, Mopan, Ch’orti’, Uspanteko, Kaqchikel and Q’eqchi.

Note to publishers: If you are interested in licensing translation rights to ‘What Makes Us Human’, please contact the author Victor D.O. Santos directly at:

* vicsantos(at)gmail.com) or,
* https://www.authorvictorsantos.com/contact

** The first address is the one listed on the UNESCO page for this year’s World Book and Copyright Day.

In terms of copyright, the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) in 2026 is the ‘Protection of Intellectual Property’ (I’ll call it PIP). Copyright, as you probably know, ensures that authors and creators are acknowledged and credited for their work and it emphasizes the importance of protecting intellectual properties for sustainable growth. PIP refers to the legal mechanisms that are in place to safeguard intangible assets created by the human mind. Things like inventions, artistic (music, art, written/literary) works, designs, symbols, names, and images are not to be taken (stolen), used (or misused), or claimed by those who did not create them. Simply, DON’T steal someone else’s stuff and pass it off as your own.

In a world where 40 per cent of the approximately 7,000 spoken languages may disappear from a lack of speakers by the turn of 21st century, it’s crucial that we (our children and their descendants) understand that language is what defines us as humans. This threat is all the more critical to the 4,000 Indigenous languages spoken in the world today and the United Nations (UN) declared 2022–2032 the ‘International Decade of Indigenous Languages’.

Each language, regardless of the number of speakers it has, is a cultural vehicle that informs of traditions, beliefs and views of life that deserve to be, must be, preserved and shared. Mr. Santos has said, and this makes sense, the more linguistic diversity there is, the richer we are as human beings. It is key to mutual understanding.

UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) advocates for education, sciences, culture, communication, and information. They co-lead the Decade to draw the world’s attention to the loss of Indigenous languages and the urgent need to preserve, revitalize, and celebrate them. Actions include to raise awareness of these languages and their diversity, to share them and keep them alive for those who will inherit them.

What Makes Us Human is a picture book, yes, but one that can be enjoyed and shared by readers of all ages worldwide. A testimony to our diverse and shared humanity and an invitation to respect and protect it.

That all said, in the spirit of the Decade of Indigenous languages, I respectfully acknowledge Solomon Ratt, one of my favourite storytellers, who was born four miles north of āmaciwīspimowinihk (Stanley Mission, SK) in a cabin on the banks of the Churchill River. Mr. Ratt graduated from the University of Regina with a BA (Ord), a BA (Adv), and an MA. He has recently retired as an Associate Professor of Languages, Linguistics, and Literature at the First Nations University of Canada. He is a first-language speaker of the th-dialect.

Mr. Ratt has published several nêhiyawêwin (Cree) language texts and resource books and assisted with the translations and publication of several others. He has written several books of Cree stories. He is also prominent on social media and contributes to FB groups like ‘Cree Word of the Day’. His work has kept the Cree language alive in Saskatchewan and across Canada.

In 2023, he published ‘kâ-pî-isi-kiskisiyân / The Way I Remember It’ (2023). Edited by Arden Ogg and released by University of Regina Press, the book is presented in Cree th-dialect Standard Roman Orthography (SRO), syllabics, and English.

Written by a residential school survivor who returned to his language and culture by way of his family’s traditional stories, this is an important book for anyone and everyone to read.

The pages tell of the challenges and successes that have shaped his life, before, through, and after his residential school experience in the voice of someone who retained their mother tongue throughout it all.

Readers learn of how âcimisowin, the stories related to his life and âcathôhkîwina, the sacred stories of Cree literature, were (and are) essential to a Cree child’s education prior to and after contact, colonialism, and the agenda of genocide. Indeed, these are stories that need to be heard, read, and passed on, as much today as they ever were.

Arden Ogg worked for 25 years with H. C. Wolfart’s SSHRC-funded Cree Language Project, when and where Freda Ahenakew had just joined as an M.A. student. Along with her many other accomplishments, in 2010, Ms. Ogg founded (and is the Director of) the not-for-profit Cree Literacy Network (creeliteracy.org) These fine people build connections between Cree speakers, teachers, and students across the Prairies (and wherever Cree is spoken) and work to support the new generation of language warriors who share a passion for Cree language revitalization. Mr. Ratt is a main contributor to the Cree Literacy Network website.

What we read (and/or listen to for that matter), how we process it, if and how we share our stories, makes us who we are in the world and determines how we understand and interact with other people. Our stories, written or oral, are crucial. They are really the only hope we have to nurture the compassion we need in a world that seems to be increasingly less tolerant.

Read well. Listen well. Be well.

Photo:
What Makes Us Human by Victor D.O. Santos and Anna Forlati: 2024

tîniki

rlc

We make every effort to be accurate and fair minded with the information posted.

If you see something that doesn't look right, or if you are interested in any of the books associated with our posts, please contact us directly at http://spaffordbooks.ca/, through Messenger, or phone 306.525.4910. If the book you want is not in stock, copies may be brought in for you. Please, and I cannot stress this enough, buy direct and/or local. Thank you.

We respectfully acknowledge that we work and live on Treaty 4 lands, the unceded territories of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda Peoples, and the traditional homelands of the Métis/Michif Nation.

04/13/2026

You’re on Earth. There’s no cure for that.
Endgame (1957)

The sun shone, having no alternative, on the nothing new.
Murphy (1938)

and,

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.
Worstward Ho (story / 1983)

Samuel Beckett, in full Samuel Barclay Beckett,
b. April 13 1906, d. December 22, 1989

Photo:
Samuel Beckett by Hugo Jehle, circa 1981

03/01/2026

“I am an invisible man,”

and,

"And I knew that it was better to live out one's absurdity
than to die for that of others."

Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison (1952)

Ralph Ellison, in full Ralph Waldo Ellison,
b. March 1, 1914, d. April 16, 1994

Ellison’s first novel, Invisible Man was the only one published in his lifetime. His father, Lewis, loved to read and named him after Ralph Waldo Emerson, the 19th century essayist and poet. Ellison writes in ‘Shadow & Act’ (1964), his first essay collection, that his father had hoped he’d become a poet.

Invisible Man addresses many of the challenges that were faced by African Americans in the early 20th century. These included, but were by no means limited to, individuality and personal identity, Black nationalism, the relationship between Black identity and Marxism, and the advocacy work and philosophy of Booker T. Washington.

Written in the first person, Ellison was often asked if the novel was autobiographical. He’d said it was not, though the book is about a man from the American South who moves to Harlem, struggles with his identity and briefly engages with the Communist Party, all things Ellison did in his life.

Ellison’s unnamed protagonist rejects cultural stereotypes and grapples with his identity in a racist world. He attempts to make sense of the anxiety, discontent, and agitation around him. The New York Times reported that Barack Obama had modelled his memoir, ‘Dreams from My Father’ (1995) on Ellison's novel.

Invisible Man took Ellison seven years to write (1945 to 1952). He had been encouraged by author Richard Wright, best known for his novel ‘Native Son’ (1940), to finish the work that started with such an iconic first line (the first quotation at the top of this post). Ellison had met Wright through his friend, Langston Hughes. He had said that when he typed the words, he had no idea where they would lead, or even what the sentence meant.

The first chapter was published in Horizon magazine in 1947, five years before the novel was published. Invisible Man was an immediate success. It was on bestseller lists for 16 weeks, was acknowledged by critics to be one of the most impressive novels of the century, and won the National Book Award (1953). Ellison was the first African American writer to win the award. In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Invisible Man as 19th on its list of the ‘100 best English-language novels of the 20th century’. Time magazine included the novel in its ‘100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005’ list. Consistently identified as one of the most important novels of the 20th century, it signalled a new chapter in how people of colour are depicted in literature.

Yet, Ellison, ever unpretentious, referred to it as his ‘attempt’ at a great novel.

Ellison articulated the civil rights climate of the mid-20th century with accomplished specificity. This, along with his connection, albeit peripheral, with the Communist Party, prompted J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI to keep close watch on him. The Bureau gathered more than 1400 pages of information about his activities and agents even previewed Invisible Man prior to its publication through informants who worked in the publishing industry.

Heralded as an exploration of discrimination and how people of colour are minimized in the US, Invisible Man was never intended to be only about that. Ellison said that this is only one interpretation of his book. He wanted it to be considered as a parable of integration. The power of literature, art, and music are, after all, are what bring us to recognize and embrace the universality and wholeness of human experience.

After Invisible Man was published, Ellison would work for the next four decades on a second novel about a Black child raised by a White minister. There are a couple of thoughts as to why he never finished it. One, there was a fire in 1965 that destroyed a portion of the manuscript. Another was that he’d had great anxiety over how it would be received. Regardless, in the end, he left nearly 2,000 pages of manuscript. His close friend and literary executor, John F. Callahan, edited and published the pages as ‘Juneteenth’ on May 29, 1999, five years after Ellison died.

In 1975, Ralph Ellison was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His hometown of Oklahoma City honoured him with the dedication of the Ralph Waldo Ellison Library the same year. He continued to teach and publish essays, and in 1984, he received the New York City College's Langston Hughes Medal. In 1985, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts.

‘Going to the Territory’ was published in 1986. A collection of seventeen powerful essays that includes his reflections on William Faulkner, Richard Wright, the music of Duke Ellington, and the art of Romare Bearden as well as his perceptions and commentary on literature, culture, race, and the contributions of African Americans to America's national identity.

Like Catcher in the Rye, Invisible Man has never been translated into film or television, though I’d read that at one point, Quincy Jones had asked about the rights. Nothing happened. It is, I think, important to note that Ellison believed no film could ever capture what he had written.

In 2009, the Ellison estate trustees granted their approval for a stage production. They respectfully insisted every word in the script belong to Ellison, that it had to follow the novel’s sequence, and remain true to the author’s intent. They did allow tense changes in some verbs.

Oren Jacoby wrote the play in 2012 in workshops held at various locations throughout the USA. He followed the instructions. Not one word of Ellison’s original dialogue was changed. He’d said that he had not felt creatively limited by the boundaries laid. Jacoby had not wanted to have the play open with the prologue that opens the novel, but it is how the production begins. Three hours long, Invisible Man ran for the first time on stage, with its premiere at the University of Chicago’s Court Theater in 2013. The six week run sold more tickets than any other nonmusical in the theatre’s 52 year history. It then went on that autumn to great success with a sold-out and twice extended run at the Studio Theater in Washington, a coproduction with the Huntington Theater. Another, slightly different version, played to great success in Boston.

In 2017, Hulu had announced it would develop a series adaptation of the novel and that it was then in its early stages. Neither script nor cast have been announced. So far, no updates on the project have been released, though it appears there’s still something still in the works. Maybe.

Ralph Ellison died of pancreatic cancer on April 16, 1994. He was 81. He was interred in a crypt at Trinity Church Cemetery and Mausoleum in the Hamilton Heights neighbourhood of Upper Manhattan.

On February 18, 2014, the United States Postal Service (USPS) issued a stamp that honoured Ralph Ellison in its Literary Arts series.

A park on 150th Street and Riverside Drive in Harlem that was dedicated to Ellison on May 1, 2003, close to Ellison's principal residence (730 Riverside Drive) from the early 1950s until his death. There you’ll find a 15 by 8 foot bronze slab with a ‘cut-out man figure’, inspired by his book Invisible Man.

Invisible Man begins with the word ‘I’ and ends with ‘you’. Maybe Ellison’s attempt to have people think about how we all are connected deeply to the stories of others.

Photo:

Ralph Ellison in St. Nicholas Park in New York City. c.1950 as taken by F***y Ellison.

We make every effort to be accurate and fair minded with the information posted.

If you see something that doesn't look right, or if you are interested in any of the books associated with our posts, please contact us directly at http://spaffordbooks.ca/, through Messenger, or phone 306.525.4910. If the book you want is not in stock, copies may be able to be brought in for you.

Please, and I cannot stress this enough, buy direct and/or local. Thank you.

We respectfully acknowledge that we work and live on Treaty 4 lands, the unceded territories of the nêhiyawak, Anihšināpēk, Dakota, Lakota, and Nakoda, and the traditional homelands of the Métis/Michif Nation.