Literacy and the Future of Publishing

December 30th, 2008

If you’ve examined my short essay on the subject of literacy and the future of publishing you will find it both brief and dated (although, arguably, this subject does not evolve rapidly).

I’ve been meaning for some time to recommend the TED site…what richness lies there!

When it comes to the subject of literacy, Dave Eggers, bestselling author and publisher-extraordinaire, on the TED site, offers an extremely moving call to improve literacy within Western countries. He has put his actions where his beliefs lie in an extraordinary way. I won’t steal any thunder from his presentation. When you have a few minutes to be inspired, please watch his presentation.

If you don’t have the time for video, head over to the Web site he’s established to follow his dream.

Literacy is clearly inextricably linked to the future of publishing. There are many roads to literacy: Mr. Eggers has created just one. I have nothing but admiration for his effort.

Noted January 23, 2009: I see that the New York Times‘ technology columnist Virginia Heffernan is very fond of TED also. Her Confessions of a TED Addict is a great read!