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Notes

Notes: Imbedding in Lucite
August 24th, 2004

I mentioned on National Review Online recently that I had had a paperback book imbedded in lucite, and planned to do this again with the paperback edition of my new book.

Several readers were curious to know how I got this done.

Here's the story.

Several advertising and corporate-events firms will do this, and there is probably one in your neighborhood. The firm I use is Corporate Presence, at 19 West 21st Street in New York City. The person I deal with is Sherry Henly, and her phone number is (212) 989-6446, direct line (917) 305-3238. Or you could e-mail her.

Here is the kind of thing they do: A copy of my book Prime Obsession imbedded in lucite. Makes a great paperweight.

Note, if you do this, that lucite, though it looks indestructible, needs some care. Here are the instructions from Corporate Presence:

— Wash with a mild soap or detergent and lukewarm water. Use a clean soft cloth or sponge. Rinse well and blot dry with a damp cloth or chamois.

— NEVER USE ABRASIVE CLEANERS, HOUSEHOLD CLEANERS, WINDOW-CLEANING FLUIDS, SCOURING COMPOUNDS, GRITTY CLOTHS, OR STRONG SOLVENTS SUCH AS ALCOHOL, ACETONE, CARBON TETRACHLORIDE, ETC.

— To maintain the brilliant luster of lucite, wax occasionally with a good grade of automobile paste wax. (NOT A CLEANER-WAX COMBINATION.) Apply a thin coat with a clean cotton flannel cloth. Then wipe with a clean damp cloth. NEVER USE HOUSEHOLD SPRAY WAXES.

Here's another, though this one was tough to photograph well. In our trip to China in 2001, we climbed a mountain in my wife's home province, and I brought back a weird piece of pumice rock from the summit. (The mountain is an extinct volcano.) Well, the rock has been crumbling away on my bookshelf the past three years, and we thought it was time to immortalize it in lucite.

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