Ten books I found when I cleaned out a storage facility in preparation for my move:
- Monster Museum by Marilyn Singer and Gris Grimly
- Why I Hate Saturn by Kyle Baker
- Writing to Learn by William Zinsser
- The Twenty-First Century City by Stephen Goldsmith
- Historic Architectural Guide to the Rockville Pike by Eileen S. McGuckian
- The Harper's Index Book by Lewis H. Lapham, Michael Pollan, and Eric Etheridge
- Spock's World by Diane Duane
- The Second Doctor Who Monster Book by Terrance Dicks
- The Trouble with Girls by Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones, Time Hamilton, and Dave Garcia
- A Shroud for Aquarius by Max Allan Collins
The real prize found among these and the other books I found is the eighth one, which is the very first piece of Doctor Who merchandise I ever bought. This was back in 1980 or 1981, when Doctor Who was airing on PBS stations across the US. There were only two or three stores in the entire Chicago area that carried Doctor Who merchandise—all imports, of course—and one weekend my folks and I headed off to the closest one, which was not close. After looking over all the stuff they had, I settled on the Monster Book, largely because it was a reference book of sorts, containing information about episodes from Tom Baker's first three seasons, which I had yet to see (my first episode was the second serial of Baker's fourth season, The Invisible Enemy). It introduced me to some companions I hadn't yet seen, some of his major baddies, like the Cybermen and the Master, and generally just sticked my interest by emphasizing that there was a rich history to the show that was waiting for me to discover.
Also found: a metric assload of sheet music and programs from my days with the Cathedral Choral Society. Good to have, though I don't know that I'll ever need any of it ever again. Time will tell.
