Headline November 07, 2018/ '' ' LONDON'S FLOATING BOOKSTORE ' ''

'' ' LONDON'S FLOATING BOOKSTORE ' ''

ITS   WANDERING  AND  floating days  just about    over  in the  virtual world,  The World Students Society   -for every subject in the world-

Begins solid preparations  for  Global Elections,  a universal recognition and respect and a Home,  topped with success.

*May Almighty God, in his infinite mercy and wisdom  bless all our efforts for astounding successes ahead.  So See Ya all  prepare  and   ''register''  on  :  wssciw.blogspot.com 

THE TWO MEN  who run London's only  floating bookstore,...................... *Word on the Water*,  are living proof that there really is something you can do in life with an English Lit degree, other than teach  English Literature.

The store   - a 50-foot long canalboat  stuffed to its  bulkheads and overflowing onto the towpath with books   -has a permanent berth on the  Regent's Canal, around the corner from the  British Library.

This comes after years of its owners staying one step ahead of eviction from the canals, by relocating every two weeks.

It is  doing so well  that   Paddy Screech, 51, an Oxford-educated  Cornishman with a close- trimmed beard and a softspoken manner, and Jonathan Privett, 52, a gaptoothed Yorkshireman who has trouble staying still for long [except with a book], finally took their dream vacations this year.

Mr. Screech who describes himself as  ''Buddhist''  went to Laos. Mr. Privett, once nicknamed the  sidewalk Professor, went to Paris and New York in part to check out  the streetbookstall  scene.

The store's prosperity probably has been helped by a  book business  that has been doing remarkably well in Britain. Sales of  physical  books increased 8 percent last year, while  e-books  continued a  significant decline.   By........ comparison, book sales in America have remained flat for years now.

''Books have been considered on the verge of obsolete, and so have canals,'' Mr. Screech said. ''But these are things people always liked. The canals survived because of that, and so will books and bookstores.''

The men got the idea for the store from a book, of course, '' Children of  Ol' Man River,'' in which Billy Bryant recounts how his British immigrant family arrived on the Mississippi  River, homeless, living on a floating board. They created a theater that culminates in the showboat craze of the late 1800s.

When Mr. Screech met him, Mr. Privett was living on canal boat, part of a subculture of boat dwellers who berth on London canals for free, as long as they keep moving periodically.

Mr. Screech had been working with homeless people and  drug addicts while caring for an  alcoholic mother   at home. ''Overnight, she stopped drinking and turned into a little old lady who only drank tea,'' he said.

He realized then, he said, that he was done with metal work. He went for a walk, stumbled on a canal and met Mr. Privett. The two cooked up the idea of the store.

Mr. Privett had the   book-business  experience. Before settling on his canalboat, he had at times been a homeless squatter who supported himself selling used books from street stalls.

A French friend, Stephane Chaudat, provided a boat big enough to be a store, a 1920s era  Dutch barge. He remains their partner.

Mr. Privett had a stock of used books. Mr. Screech borrowed  2,000 pounds, or  $3,000   at the time,  from his mother as the capital, and their business was born in early 2010.

A few weeks earlier, on Christmas Eve 2009,  Borders had closed all of its British stores, and the  future of  bookstores  looked grim everywhere. ''I said to Jon,  'Aren't we enthusiastically  entering a dying medium? ,' '' Mr. Screech said.

''He said, ''Well, if all the  bookstores close, we'll still be here.' ''

The Honor and Serving of the latest Operational Research  on  inspiring ideas and great innovators, continues. The World Students Society thanks author and researcher  Rod Nordland.

With respectful dedication to the Students, Professors and Teachers of England and then the world.   See Ya all  prepare  and     ''register''  on :
wssciw.blogspot.com  and Twitter - !E-WOW! - the Ecosystem 2011:

''' Signs & Songs '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless