Expecting the Best

Now that the e-book version of A Rose for Sergei is complete, I am finalizing plans for the hard copy version.  The electronic format, where you view a book on your computer, Ipad, or e-reader doesn’t seem quite as real to me.  A book is tangible . . . you can hold it and know that it is real.

My former boss is one of the key people in the book—he introduced me to Sergei Kourdakov.  Mr. Logie called me right after he finished reading A Rose for Sergei on his e-reader.  I was glad to hear how much he enjoyed the book.  He and I both agreed that reading about oneself does seem a little strange.  Mr. Logie commented that I was very good with details.  I recall that when I worked for him he always expected the best of everyone—including himself.

He asked when the hard copy of A Rose for Sergei would be ready.  I replied that it would be available in a few months because that format takes a lot longer to produce than an immediate e-book.  “You have to put pictures in the book,” he informed me.  “People will want to see photographs of Sergei.”

I should listen to him, I thought.  His entire career was in the radio and television service business.  He knows what he’s talking about.  I told him my photographs were quite old and the quality was not very good, but I would try to make them work.

Mr. Logie is now in his mid-nineties, and I had not worked for him for over thirty-six years.  Yet, once again he became my boss.  I smiled to myself as we finished our phone conversation.  He was still expecting the best from me.