Inkwell: Authors and Artists

    
Well said.
  

    
Nice, Gerard.
  

    
Thanks.
  

    

Ah.
  

    

I could have told you, Gerard, that it would be hard to read those passages
out loud.
  

    
Very nice, Gerard. Occasionally someone complains that Tom's story is just
a slice, that the WELL is so much larger. Could be vice versa... the WELL
is just a slice, Tom's story is so much larger.
  

    

  Damn, just when ya think you've got someone like <boswell> firmly down
in the "unredeemable jerk" category, he comes along and posts something
wonderful like that.  Well done, and very well said, Gerard.
  

    

Yes.  Very nice.
  

    

Indeed.  Thank you.
  

    
Yes.
  

    
A somewhat clueless review of katie's book appears in today's Austin
American-Statesman.  Besides other misconceptions, the writer seems to think
that the well doesn't exist any more:

http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/today/life_entertainment_8.html
  

    
I just sent him an email...let's see what he says. (I should point him to
this topic, actually...)
  

    
From satyr@well.com Sun Jun 24 18:07:47 2001
Date: Sun, 24 Jun 2001 18:07:34 -0700 (PDT)
From: John Payne <satyr@well.com>
To: letters@statesman.com
Subject: premature news of demise

Responding to "Tales from the cyberfrontier", by Karl D. Stephan, Sunday,
June 24, 2001.

<http://www.austin360.com/statesman/editions/today/life_entertainment_8.html>

Mr. Stephan seems to be under the impression that The WELL exists only in
the past tense.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

In particular, this passage - "In 1999, its operating organization was
absorbed into Salon.com, and The Well ceased to exist as an independent
entity." - is particularly clueless, as the purchase by Salon has, if
anything, reinforced and reinvigorated The WELL's original character.

It may still be small, but, byte for byte, it's still the seminal online
community.

Sincerely, John T. Payne, Boulder, Colorado

[] John T. Payne - PO Box 4534 - Boulder, CO 80306
[] http://www.well.com/user/satyr/ - satyr@well.com
  

    
I need a copy editor...
  

    
Good one, though.
  

    
Gawd, the Statesman, my ex-employer, clueless? The book's short, but
obviously he didn't finish it. I just wish I'd read it in time for the
majority of the discussion. Amazon.de works in mysterious ways.
  

    
It says it ceased to exist ~as an independent entity~, which is true.
  

    

  But completely misleading.
  

    
The WELL was no more an independent entity before the sale than after.
Matter of fact, it never has been.  First there was Point Foundation, then
B.K., and now Salon.  The WELL has tottered on through it all, only somewhat
ruffled by the changes.
  

    

So glad to see this topic didn't die quite yet (I got super busy at
work and haven't checked in). Gerard, I so wish I could have been there
to hear you read. 

And reviews? I'm learning to ignore them. :-)
  

    

And forgot to say: This whole discussion has been lots of fun. Never a
dull moment...
  

    

That's us.  Always will be.
  

    
Karl Stephan responded to my email. He acknowledged that his review would
have been better if he had spoken with an active member of the WELL, and
he notes that the sense that the WELL is a bunch of Sausalito ex-hippies
is pretty much what you get from the book... can't argue with that. Seems
like a very nice guy...
  

    
Man. That's pretty out there. Would he like to hear from more of us?
Gimme his email address and I'll show him non-existent Well.
  

    
Be mellow, man.  We're hippies!