A Thousand Things That Do Not Work

In April of 1992, I was asked to give a speech to the Wisconsin State Governor's Conference on Youth, Gangs and Drugs, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

My speech, which was later reprinted in Vital Speeches of the Day, more-or-less summarized key points from "The Winnable War: A Community Guide to Street Drug Markets" which was a little book I wrote for a small nonprofit in Washington, D.C.

Much to my surprise, New York Times editorial writer A.M. Rosenthal read the little book and wrote an op-ed that said it was "strongly recommended reading for every police chief, city council person, mayor and community activist that wants to get drugs out of their communities."

More reviews came in from other newspapers, as well as policy experts at Harvard, and the Chair of the American Bar Association.

I was rather stunned, but quite pleased, when orders began to come in. At first there were just a few, but then we began to receive orders for 100 copies and even 1,000 copies at a time as Mayors and City Councils bought bulk copies of the book and distributed them to every community association in their cities. I do not know how many copies of this book eventually sold, but I do know it made well over $300,000 in profit for that small nonprofit that first year, and more later  -- a stunning level of sales in the public policy arena, and achieved without any distribution mechanism at all.

"Some days even a blind pig can find an acorn."

In any case, the opening of this speech is one of my favorite Thomas Alva Edison stories, and can be read >> HERE.