4 responses to ““I Will Drive No More Forever” — in honor of the defunct Northwest Book Travelers Association”

  1. Mary Ann Fraser

    Talk about a win-win-win-win! If all the people who still preferred a BOOK joined forces with all the sales reps that could (realistically) shop their wares via bus/shuttle/tram/train etc. we could increase sales, be green, put more people to work and world peace would certainly follow! Thank you, George Carroll! I tip my hat to you and other like-minded book folks.

  2. Sean Concannon

    I ditched my car in 2004 in favor of travelling to sales calls by train and bus. After making the NYC to Philly or NYC to Boston drive hundreds of times over the years, making those trips via Amtrak or Bolt bus was a revelation. It generally took me an hour longer to get anywhere, but I got a lot out of those hours- orders filed, books read, music listened to. Instead of fighting rush hour traffic in Philly to get back to NYC, I would enjoy dinner and a beer in the train station, and then hop on the train. Or I’d get dinner to go and eat it on the train.

    Congratulations for finding a way to make your sales calls without a car.

  3. john eklund

    This is spot on. Among the most useful intelligence David Stimpson shared with me when I took over much of his territory was bus, train, and shuttle schedules from Halifax to Saskatoon. The joy of calling on booksellers using public transportation has been a pleasant surprise. Montreal is so bike crazy I may even try that next time, though shlepping catalogs may be tricky. Via Rail is lovely, and makes Amtrak seem like a bad joke. Then again Canadians seem to think trains are a good thing, and not the leading edge of communism they are thought to be where I live.

  4. marilyn dahl

    Does anyone still go to Alaska? I remember when Scott LePIne would take the ferry up the Inside Passage. Sounds dreamy.

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