Consider this K-76’s first footnote.
Are you familiar with Future Shock by Alvin Toffler? It came out in 1970. Toffler proposes something like this: if you live long enough, at some point you will essentially find yourself living in your own future.
According to Toffler, Future Shock is a syndrome, an anxious condition, a mental disorder to be reckoned with.
But wait.
Last week at a performance space called Green Kill, I read from Kingston 76, highly aware that I was back in the neighborhood where the story takes place nearly 50 years before.
This very space had been a creaky mom-and-pop store, owned by my neighbors on Warren Street, barely changed since the 1940s.
And here it is now. Open-planned, gallery white, dominated by digital cameras, computer screens and a video mixing board for the live-streaming experience.
The scene could not be more post-pandemic, 21st century. I even reference Toffler during reading. But am I freaking out as he had predicted?
Oddly, no. In fact, with family and friends listening, happy to be here, I find the experience unexpectedly… delightful. Miraculous even.
Turns out if you live long enough, yes, you might find yourself living in your own future. But you might also find yourself chilled out enough to enjoy the ride.
# # #
Next installment Wednesday 12/13
Meanwhile: observations? questions? Write me or use the comment section. I read and reply.
Also, are you enjoying Kingston 76? Can you think of someone who’d like to read it? Please copy the link below, email them, and recommend that they subscribe.
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Thanks for reading Kingston 76!
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I remember “Future Shock”! I read it in high school but don’t remember any of it. Thanks for the reminder.
I’m loving “Kingston ‘76” and have suggested it to folk. Hmmm ... I’m gonna try to make a note with the link! Stay tuned!
Love this sweet, funny yet suspenseful book!