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Volume 2 of the Honorary Unsubscribe series has more amazing inventors: several of the minds that made the Internet possible. The creator of the Smiley Face, and why he didn’t get rich from it. The originator of organic foods, and the stores which sell them. The guy who came up with the “Wave” used in sports stadiums.
How about the man who made sure the world knew about Schindler’s “list” — because he himself was on it? And wait until you hear what else the inventor of the Barbie doll created. Plus the guy who turned a pie plate into the Frisbee flying disk, and the amusing way he wanted to be remembered.
And then there’s the artists — the creators of music and TV shows you love (like Leave It To Beaver, and who that show was based on); even the guy who invented the pinup. Doctors who made radical breakthroughs to improve human life, such as the doctor who wrote the first textbook for paramedics. And yeah, a couple more rocket scientists, plus a few more entertainers who died mostly forgotten.
The mainstream media tend to worship celebrities and sports figures, but the real heroes in life are often anonymous to the public. You’ve seen the Norman Rockwell print of the small-town doctor, but you likely never heard his name (until now).
All those stories are in this book, plus more than a hundred more (146 total). The stories are fascinating: you won’t believe the cool people you have missed in your life. These are the people you wish you had known.
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The Honorary Unsubscribe is a recurring feature in This is True — one of the first Internet-based newsletters, created by Randy Cassingham in early 1994. TRUE's mission is to provoke thought through social commentary. But if readers aren't entertained by the stories, they won't read very many. Thus its vehicle, weird-but-true news from legitimate news sources from around the world. The result spans the gamut of the crazy things we humans think we can get away with: jaw-dropping examples of the human thought process, and the realization that we can do better — a LOT better!
The Honorary Unsubscribe is the "balance" to those weird stories of people doing dumb things. The Honorary Unsubscribe is, in fact, the opposite: stories of the absolutely coolest people you've ever heard about; the ones who DO live a lot better. This is the second volume collecting those write-ups into book form.