Supplementary » July 6, 2005

Last Request

By Melissa Byrns

Over the past 6 months I had moments with Jimmy that I will cherish forever. Though at times he expressed great sadness, he said he was not afraid of death. Jimmy was always teaching me something—how to correctly chop vegetables during our weekly cooking lessons, how to navigate the Chicago street grid system after I moved here and, of course, how to view what’s going on in the world with a more critical eye.

A couple weeks ago Jimmy said, “Melissa, I need you to do me a favor.” Jimmy had not asked me to do one thing for him during his illness, so I knew he was serious. He told me to ask my friends to buy the paperback edition of The Long Detour. I said, “Do you want to educate as many people as possible before you die?” With a grin, he said he knew most of my friends probably wouldn’t read the book, but that they should.

He then explained that if enough books were sold, then a third edition would be printed. He said that having his ideas around after he is gone was important to him and that a third printing would help accomplish this. I e-mailed all my friends and 30 of them e-mailed back and said they had bought the book.

So I am asking you, readers of In These Times, to keep The Long Detour in print and buy a new paperback copy. To read more about the book, and to order it, check out Jimmy’s Web site at http://www.jamesweinstein.com.

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• Reader Comments

  Listen to Melissa --buy the book!

  Posted by Beth Schulman on Jul 7, 2005 at 5:02 PM

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