Genesis of my Nat Geo//Titanic passion . . . ( Part II of II )

[Scott T. Shier]

Hello Fellow 'Corner members,

So, now I come to my overview of the little personal "Titanic ~ Nat Geo" book I made. I posted the sample images of it on Monday, and I began my story of the history of my interest and passion in/for National Geographic, and the TITANIC yesterday. 

Ideally, I would have wanted to have my book contents bound into a standard format book with a hard spine and hard covers, but due to local binding options, I had to do the cheaper, quicker option: spiral/coil binding. However, I did quickly realize a few "pros" about doing it this way.

*to wit: they won't hardbound just one book/copy; I would have needed a minimum qty. order, ha-ha.

1] I can always add, subtract, and re-arrange my book if and when it suits me, or I may find something I overlooked. In fact, this book has been un-coiled and re-colied 3 times since I first made it last April. 

2] it allows one to lay the articles and fold-outs flat on the table for more convenient viewing and looking -- something you can't do with an NGM copy, or usually a book as wll.

3] it was cheaper and I could get the book fast after I had prepped everything. 

This book is where I find that "The Complete National Geographic on DVD-rom" proved its value. For all the departments feature pages I included, I simply printed these pages out on regular white paper. It saved a lot of work dismantling actual NGM issues for what amounted to 1 page per ; also, it would have been silly to have to go and purchase all those issues on eBay for a page here or there. 

As I mentioned in Part I, I already had the first 5 main article/NGM copies as my very first Nat Geo-on-eBay purchase, and I merely added an extra April 2012 copy to the mix.

I spent a lot of time trying different things for my custom pages, and in fact, wasted a lot of ink and paper! But once it was finished, I didn't care! If you look closely you'll notice that I put a shadow or mirror effect under many of my custom pages, such as the cover image I selected. None of these self-made 'other' inclusions came from any NGS source.

Note that I used the old NGM top Laruel garland on my cover. I loved that header on NGM and have missed it dearly since they dumped it (e.g., Sept. 2000).

I literally made this book from April 14-16th, of 2013. That's how I "celebrated" the anniversary last year. Usually I watch a movie or read a book to commemorate the date. In 2004 & 2012 I also went to the Titanic: The Exhibition at the Detroit Institute of Science and Arts. 

Rather than clutter up this message with Contents text, I am attaching the Word.doc if you care to look at it. It shows my precise ordering and structure of my book. I am amused that's it's one of a kind, but I also know that it's an amateur effort. For me the value is/was in the enjoyment of making it, and the convenience of having ALL Titanic material from NGM in one handy item.

best to all,

  - Scott 

here's the direct album link to the photos I shared --->

http://ngscollectors.ning.com/photo/albums/my-titanic-ngm-book 

[Philip Riviere]

Scott,

You are the " true" Nat Geo collector.. You get immense pleasure from  ALL  things National Geographic.  Wonderful job

Phil

[Scott T. Shier]

...thank-you again Phil.

[George Thomas Wilson]

Scott,

Your passion for the Nat Geo and for Titanic struck a chord.  While I've been a collector since the early 1970's, first as a gatherer, later with a subscription, and more recently as an active collector; I first fell in love with the Nat Geo in the early 1960's.  When I was 10, the first man was launched into space.  At the time, watching "Rocky Jones" on Saturday mornings, I thought people flew in space all the time.  This was my first reality check.  I started to gather articles and newspaper clippings about space and astronomy.  I still have several Life Magazines on the subject and, of course, all the Nat Geo's.

My favorite issue at the time was September 1962.  I read the article "I Fly the X-15" more times than I can remember.  My second favorite was May 1963 "Mariner Scans a Lifeless Venus".  That article gave me a new perspective: the earth as a planet.  This is probably why I am so into maps.

Tom

[Scott T. Shier]

Tom,

And your close-to-your-heart faves strike a chord with me. I love the 1960's space-age articles and covers of NGM !

Thank you for your nice comment, and sharing your memories. I like how you characterize your collecting early-on as "a gatherer". Ha. Maybe I'll have to steal that label. 

- Scott