When an author is as prolific of Forewords and Prefaces and Introductions as Colin Wilson was, you can bet that sooner or later at least some of them will be collected and republished together, because they often shine as much light on his own ideas as on the books they introduce. Certainly that’s true for the Foreword Colin kindly wrote for my book that was published in 2001. Here it is.
Colin Wilson’s huge early influence on me
News of Colin’s passing sends me back not to the friendship we began in 1995 but to the very early days, when he didn’t know I was on Earth, but changed my life. I wrote about it in my book Muddy Tracks:
Watching the bounce
Ever since I appeared on Coast to Coast AM on June 1, I have been looking in at Amazon to see the size and duration of any boost in sales attributable to the show. I’m interested not only in The Cosmic Internet, but my earlier books, as well: The Sphere and the Hologram, Muddy Tracks, Babe in the Woods, and Messenger. (A sixth book, Chasing Smallwood, isn’t listed with Amazon.)
As you no doubt know, the lower the number, the better a book is selling. As I learned years ago when I was with Hampton Roads, though, the fact that a book falls even hundreds of thousands in the rankings doesn’t mean you sold more than a couple of books! Anyway, it’s sort of fascinating to watch. One thing, clearly, that one appearance gave a strong boost to my other books.
One reality — two ways of seeing it
[It is reassuring to me to see that the material I have been obtaining from the guys upstairs over so long a time remains consistent. It’s one thing to trust the process when reading about Jane Roberts or Edgar Cayce doing it. It’s another thing entirely – which comes laden with anxiety! – to be doing it yourself. A friend is putting together an e-book version of The Sphere and the Hologram, and in looking over his rendition I was struck by these two extracts that were written in 1997 and 1998. Still true, still appropriate to our situation. Everything in The Cosmic Internet was built upon these foundations, it seems to me. ]
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Fifteen years ago last July, Rich Spees and I met at a program at The Monroe Institute and discovered that we were friends. Despite my having explicitly described his first encounter with Guidance in my non-fiction book Muddy Tracks, and despite my having turned him into a major character in my novel Babe in the Woods, we remain good friends today.
Out of the goodness of his heart, Rich, a demon web designer (http://speesdesign.com/), maintains both my blogs, this one and one devoted mainly to political and public affairs (http://thehistoricalcontext.wordpress.com/). As he finds time, he keeps making little improvements, most of them invisible to the user, but some of which show.
I am not exactly Mr. Technology, so he had to explain to me that the “Share This” button at the bottom of the column allows you, the reader, to automatically send someone a link to a page you like. I figure I can’t be the only person in the world not to know this, so I thought I’d explain it, hence this little note.
Conversations July 11, 2010
Sunday, July 11, 2010
5 AM. Alone in the house, Michael having left sometime like 11 or so last night. So now, back into harness, after a very enjoyable interlude. How much is it worth, having friends? Can anything match it? All right guys, speaking of friends —
Waiting for a question, eh? I sort of thought you had stuff queued up.
Let’s talk about avatars, then, and missions, and possibilities.
Oh sure, let’s take off our clothes and dance in the public fountains, too.
At some point you have to jump or not jump. Is there a better time than now, with Michael scarcely out the door?
Conversations July 1, 2010
Thursday, July 1, 2010
6 AM. All right, I’m ready if you’re ready — or if you- all are ready. Papa, being that tomorrow is the anniversary of yourself-decided transition — and next year makes 50 years since then! — how about if you start?
There will be a time when 50 years as a space of time doesn’t impress you as it does now. Consider how your reaction is different now from even 20 years ago, and then try to see yourself over here for 50 years.