Stephens Press titles included in Clark County time capsule

krissyhawkins — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 22:05:15 +0000

Photo credit: John Gurzinski

by Krissy Hawkins
In a ceremony on Tuesday, December 8th seven Clark County commissioners, including Commissioner Rory Reid, presented their chosen memorabilia to be placed in a time capsule to be unearthed 100 years from now in 2109 – the county’s bicentennial. The collection includes newspaper clippings, photos, DVD’s, and books – including a few Stephens Press titles. Namely Education in the Neon Shadow and Springs in the Desert were among the books chosen to represent the county’s zeitgeist.
The assortment also features some more unique items – an oversized western-style belt buckle, a bottle of red wine complete with Clark County label, and a wooden apple half to name a few.
It is a compelling question though whether the generations of 100 years from now will even be able to take advantage of some of these future relics.
“The difficulty in 100 years will be finding something that will play these (DVDs),” said Mark Hall-Patton, who oversees the county’s museums. “It will be like trying to listen to the crude spinning records of 1909, which predated vinyl. You would have to use a hand-cranked phonograph in a museum.”
As for the Stephens Press titles, well we’re not concerned, if time has proven anything it is that the written word always endures and, as anyone who has read Chaucer, Shakespeare or Austen lately can attest, is timeless.
Though flipping through the pages of these printed books may be a unique experience to the future reader who is accustomed to electronically flipping the pages on their Kindle 23.0.
Along these lines, reporters at the event were told that today’s news stories regarding the capsule may be included in the reserve. As such LVRJ reporter, Scott Wyland, included this humorous message to future readers: “If it’s 2019 and you’re reading this, kudos if Lake Mead hasn’t dried up, the Strip is powered by the earth’s magnetic waves and you’ve found a way to travel between here and LA in 20 minutes. And oh, this is what a newspaper used to look like.”

Read the full article here.

Greetings

carolynhayesuber — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 12:10:00 +0000

Welcome to the web site for Springs in the Desert: A Kid’s History of Las Vegas by Jonathan Peters. Check back to this site for updates on events, lectures, and book signings.