Sorry Walter

Home in Texas visiting Willie, Wanda and Willamena, I almost feel I owe you (and your agent and lawyer) some money.
While spending an enjoyable evening reading your 1996 book "A Reporter's Life - Walter Cronkite," picked up for a buck at my favorite family run chain "Half Price Books," I notice on the inside flap of my hardcover edition "FPT U.S.A. $26.95 Canada $35.00."

This realization at least curbed my lingering laughter over the use of " babushkas" on the first page of chapter 1.
People in Connecticut know how my former tv news weather cohort Paul Piorek uses the same word on the air (in the winter.) And how for more than eight years he had me repeating "babushka alert" six times by 6:00am.
He used it to mean large warm hat, or scarf, or something.
But then one day on air Paul said a viewer called and told him babushka meant grandmother and we envisioned wrapping a grandmother around your head and probably said silly incoherent stuff on TV.

Would I actually owe money if I reproduce Walter's babushka sentence?

Well right there, first page, after using the word babushkas, Walter has "grandmothers" in parenthethis.

Already the book is worth double the dollar. Plus our Texas connection and that Walter worked for CBS and I'm freelancing in London at CBS---- and add the fact his book incited a blog post- and more to follow: the font in the front flap had two lines though the dollar sign. Typing this up on my iPad I can only get one line through. For all I know that could be a different currency and one day it could mess someone up on Ebay.

And why list Canada? Why the different price? We don't list the conversion of price for other countries we border.
Living in London I was told America didn't trade with Canada (England's commonwealth.)
Oh I stood up for America's vast dealings with Canada- how I used to walk across the Buffalo border and buy stuffed moose (stuffed dog toy moose- another blog post.)
But then I started thinking. What are the stipulations and dealings and why would an intelligent successful person believe America doesn't trade with Canada. Does "trade" mean the same thing in UK as it does in US? The word "arrest" has a very different meaning in England versus America.
It's something to be aware of- so we won't jump to attack words or defend the way we understand a system. Maybe neither is wrong. Or right.

Also made me think- I have no idea what America really trades or what the tax implications are- despite the fact I sat next to a man from 530 am to 9 every day for years- who basically lived and worked on the Canadian border his prior job. (I seem to know everything else about him- including how he broke a fast with a ring-ding while keeping score at a high school hockey match-)
So I can research and I'll ask my former colleague.
Another blog.
So thank you Walter.
And I'm only on page 1.
There are 384 pages.
Readers of my blog might ask Walter and his cronies for retribution if this pace continues. I just peeped at page 384 to write the previous sentence. It's a poignant page. See you there.