7 days left. After my last update yesterday there was a flurry of contributions which got us just past the 50% mark. All I can say is – I am beyond grateful for the love and support I’ve gotten from so many of you. It’s renewed my faith in people – renewed my faith that I believe what I’ve been trying to do all this time has been worth it. I am beginning to believe we will make it out of the woods on this one – but I’m still crossing my fingers. The patient isn’t off the operating table yet.
As I’ve said before, working on a blog/website is a bit like working in an Anechoic chamber; the silence is often deafening and the lack of feedback can lead to all kinds of assumptions – none of them good.
The upside of working in that solitary environment is you’re forced to go on hunches. The downside is you sometimes say or write things you think no one will read, and suddenly you realize you’ve gone viral. Either way, there’s that sense of not knowing whether or not you’re working in a void.
It’s that way for me every day. I don’t know for certain if I’m reaching anyone – but I know at the end of the day I can look at what I’ve posted and feel I’ve accomplished at least something which may have a positive impact on someone at some point.
You just never know – but you keep doing it because you have to and you feel you need to. I didn’t assemble this archive to have it sit in a dark room and deteriorate. I’m not like a lot of institutions I could name who jealously guard dank and musty basements of history; sealed-off from the world and unavailable to those people who could benefit from the discoveries inside.
And I can’t tell you how many times I have gone on rescue missions – reports of dumpsters being filled with tapes and recordings deemed useless by whoever ordered their destruction. Carting away boxes and contents of those dark basements condemned to landfills by those people who could care less – who looked at the bottom line and saw no value. Who looked at history and thought it was junk. Who thought I was out of my mind for being interested.
It still goes on, even today. To some, history is unnecessary, a pointless exercise or the quaint luxury of the nostalgic. It’s none of those. Knowing what went on in the past, and how it compares to events in the present make it possible to influence how the future can turn out. But many people just don’t get it. And so I get the calls and e-mails and the Archive continues to grow and expand.
When all of this began, it was one reel of tape; The one I recorded as a kid, home from school recuperating on the morning of November 22, 1963. In the 52 years since then, it’s grown to well over 100,000 reels of tape and countless discs and cassettes and recordings in all sorts of formats. On those tapes and those recordings are voices, events and culture which trace our history from the end of the 19th century to an hour ago. Although far from complete, it’s a good chunk of the story which defines the evolution of a society and those events which shaped and influenced our lives today.
And being one of those people who believe in the concept of “leaving everything in just a bit better shape than when you found it”, I’ve taken it upon myself to share these discoveries with everyone – not a few people; not a closed-society of collectors, but everyone with a computer and the ability and desire to listen. And I try to make it interesting – I try to make it something which compels you to want to learn more, listen more and discover more. I am appealing to your curiosity, every day.
And it all takes time and energy and hours – and I happily give them freely and will continue to. But the only snag is the physical nuts-and-bolts of the day-to-day. The demands of those people and places who adhere to the bottom line and nothing else, who look at history as just an accumulation of junk and the contents of garages hoarded by packrats.
And they can’t be convinced otherwise. I’ve tried. They’ve nodded – drawn the well-worn sigh and mumbled “I understand”, and end their sentence with “but you still have to the end of the month”. Preaching to the tone-deaf choir.
So that’s where we’re at today – 7 days until our deadline. Liens placed, padlocks struck and demands made. And I’m going on the appeal – making the case and asking you to chip in and help out while we get through this crisis.
Right now we’re a little over 50% and we can make it, but only if you chip in and make your tax-deductible pledge and contribution today, before it’s too late. I know there are a lot of you out there who are on the fence about this – who feel you don’t need to jump in, because someone else will do it. But if everyone felt that way, then no one would contribute – and for several days, no one did. We need to catch up if we’re going to meet this demand and get back to normal. And we need your help.
Those of you who have contributed, I can only say I am grateful beyond words for your continued support – and I am indebted to everyone who have told their friends to pitch in and help. And that’s something you can do if you can’t contribute; tell your friends. I need people coming to Past Daily, even after our Fundraiser, and sticking around – hopefully, I will be here all day every day, continuing to give all the best I can.
But I’m asking you now; please click on the link below and make your Tax-Deductible pledge, in whatever amount you are comfortable with. I’ll be here as long as you are. The verdict isn’t in yet – I am hopeful we have a stay of execution. With your help, we will.
Till next time . . .
Gordon
