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John, how can one receive an autographed copy of one of your Go books in the US? I snagged the one copy presently available new on the US Amazon site. I have no idea if I just purchased the new one or the original.
There was a time when I was regularly travelling round the Sates, clocking up MLB ballparks. I got about halfway before I had important commitments at home, and of course Covid didn't help. I don't think I will resume travel there - though I did go to the Cubs-Cardinal game in the London Olympic Stadium last week. But if you were to travel to London, I can easily meet up with you there.
The "one copy available" label is just a way of saying that new copies are printed up only on-demand as opposed to being kept in stock, so anyone can get a copy. Somewhat to my surprise, because I make next to no effort to publicise my books, Kamakura continues to shine. It is still somewhat ahead of the popular Shuei books and Genjo-Chitoku. In contrast, the Chinese books struggle immensely. I'm not entirely sure what that tells us. The lack of interest in China baffles me, but I suppose the very same factors that made me want to write Kamakura are shared by many other people, though I'm not sure I could list those factors convincingly. Simply "Go Seigen" is probably the main factor, but perhaps the more subtle explanation is embedded in the action of superhero Keith Arnold, who funded the second reprint of Kamakura through Slate & Shell on the grounds that "this is a book that should never go out of print." As soon as I heard that, I knew at least one other person understood my motivation. So, if you can get to Keith easily (US Congress next week?), I would be most honoured if he autographed the book on my behalf. I honestly believe that would make it more special than if I signed it. Add Bill Cobb to the list and I would be over the moon.
Incidentally, I have a new book on Chinese go just out, and another on Go in old Okinawa should appear within the next fortnight. Details of those will be in separate threads.