--- In LbNA-Webmasters@yahoogroups.com, Jason Ellison
wrote:
I just came across your website and the entire concept of
Letterboxing. I have to say I am very intrigued. I am
working on a book and a road trip that I think will tie in
beautifully with letterboxing. Let me explain the project
and hopefully you can offer comments or suggestions!
I am in the process of writing a book proposal for a book
called Dinotour. The book will be a travel related book
showcasing art, attractions, and monuments inspired by or
dedicated to dinosaurs. The working subtitle is “A Roadside
Guide to Prehistoric Parks and Dinosaur Art of North
America.”
Dinotour will examine humanity’s long fascination with
prehistoric creatures and the resulting representations of
dinosaur in the form of roadside art. Sometimes this has
taken the form of commercial architecture or homespun theme
parks. At other times it has taken the form of untrained
artists tinkering with cement, found objects, and recyclable
material. The photograph-laden book will appeal to fans of
roadside monuments and unusual attractions, fans of folk art
and commercial architecture, and, need I mention, fans of
dinosaurs. Now I am thinking there may be room for a very
unusual letterboxing event.
To write this book I will be conducting a road trip across
the North American continent to photograph dinosaurs and
interview artists, creators, and attraction owners. This
will be my real-life “Dinotour.” I already know of several
dozen dinosaur locations in The US and Canada including
fiberglass or cement attractions, sculpture parks, folk art
dinosaurs, and dinosaur monuments in front of museums.
Nearly every dinosaur the book will showcase will be
outside, usually in an open setting.
What I would like to do, with your help, is let people know
about this project and give them a chance to initiate. I
would love for people to design special dinosaur stamps and
place with their logbooks at these dinosaur attractions,
sculpture parks, and museums. If we could get a person
nearest to each of the major attractions to design and place
the
stamp that would be perfect.
When I conduct my tour this fall, I will collect the stamps
and showcase them in the book if the letterboxers wish.
After all, the book is about the intersection of travel,
dinosaurs, and art and I think that the letterboxing stamps
are the perfect example of that junction. I can include a
full chapter on the letterboxing aspect of the book/tour and
how your site was the inspiration. The book will give full
credit to the stamp designers and I will likely interview
some of the planters to get their tales of letterboxing or
dinosaurs.
In return I will of course design a special Dinotour stamp
to leave at other dinosaur attractions and also use it to
stamp the books that I found. If the original planters
wish, I can leave my Dinotour stamp with theirs for future
visitors. More visitors will come once they pick up my book
and do their own Dinotour.
Do you agree with me that this will be a fun idea? Let me
know if you think there is an aspect that I have not thought
about or if you would like more details on the book. Even
though, I would not be doing the tour until August, I still
would like to get your advice and potentially start
promoting the idea now so that letterboxers across the US
and Canada can start designing their stamps!
Jason Ellison
--- End forwarded message ---