{"id":33307,"date":"2021-05-26T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-05-26T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=33307"},"modified":"2021-05-26T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-26T10:00:00","slug":"on-houghton-mifflin-fading-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/?p=33307","title":{"rendered":"On Houghton Mifflin Fading Away"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

With the acquisition of Houghton Mifflin by HarperCollins, it has been noted<\/a> that the century-and-a-half-old name of Houghton Mifflin will now fade away. To understand what that will mean, I turned to the people who clearly have the greatest appreciation of the loss, namely the characters from The Lord of the Rings<\/em>, Houghton’s signature franchise.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n

Kenny:<\/span> So how will it be to have the Houghton Mifflin name removed from your epic tale?<\/p>\n\n\n

Gandalf:<\/span> The wise speak only of what they know.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Kenny: <\/span>I take your point. It will be hard to know how it will feel until it actually happens. Still we must acknowledge that Houghton Mifflin has been a praise-worthy steward of The Lord of the Rings<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n

Faramir:<\/span> Praise from the praise-worthy is beyond all reward.<\/p>\n\n\n

Kenny:<\/span> True, but perhaps you do feel a bit sad about things coming to an end?<\/p>\n\n\n

Gandalf:<\/span> It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set.<\/p>\n\n\n

Kenny:<\/span> I get that, a most noble sentiment. but perhaps a teensy bit of melancholy might be forgiven.<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Bilbo:<\/span>
I sit beside the fire and think
of how the world will be
when winter comes without a spring that I shall ever see.<\/p>\n\n\n

For still there are so many things
that I have never seen:
in every wood in every spring
there is a different green.<\/p>\n\n\n

I sit beside the fire and think
of people long ago
and people who will see a world
that I shall never know.<\/p>\n\n\n

Kenny:<\/span> That is very philosophical of you and it is true that Harper has an august and noteworthy legacy of its own. But I do admit to being a little choked up about the fading of Houghton Mifflin.<\/p>\n\n\n

Gandalf: <\/span> I will not say: do not weep; for not all tears are an evil.<\/p>\n\n\n

Kenny:<\/span> <\/span>Understood, but it seems a needless sadness to have 150 years of tradition swept away as though it had not been. Surely some more legacy-preserving path might have been devised for such a rich literary house. Or what would you say to HarperCollins?<\/p>\n\n\n

Aragorn: <\/span>“At last all such things must end but I would have you wait a little while longer: for the end of the deeds that you have shared in has not yet come.<\/p>\n\n\n

Kenny:<\/span> Let us hope not!<\/p>\n\n\n

Curious George<\/span>: Hey don’t forget about me! My first book with Harper, Curious George Gets a New Home<\/a><\/em>, is coming out soon!<\/p>\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n


<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The characters from the Lord of the Rings share their insight into HMH’s passing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33307","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33307","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=33307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33307\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=33307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=33307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blogs.publishersweekly.com\/blogs\/shelftalker\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=33307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}