MILITARY CANCELS PHILADELPHIA BOOK & PAPER FAIR

April 10, 2008

The May 3, 2008 Philadelphia Book & Paper Fair, the third fair to be held at the Pennsylvania National Guard Armory, had promised to be the most successful yet with the return of many longtime exhibitors and an influx of new booksellers. Press releases had been faxed and emailed to area news outlets and radio stations. Eight thousand of the ten thousand discounted and free tickets had been dispersed with the balance to follow within the week when a phone call from the Armory halted the operation.

"In accordance with paragraph 4 of the rental agreement, the contract is subject to cancellation when it is determined that the armory is necessary for use by the Pennsylvania Military Forces to carry out military requirements." was the message and the decision irrevocable. (Click here for contents of the apology from Colonel Marc Ferraro which confirmed the phoned cancellation.)

This forced cancellation so close to the fair date and after the expenditure of so much time, effort and expense is extremely disappointing and makes future use of this otherwise satisfactory facility unlikely. We are using our recently compiled electronic emailing list to disperse news of the cancellation, posting this message on our website and sending remailings in order, as much as possible, to stop bookbuyers from making fruitless trips to the Armory on May 3.

We thank the exhibitors whose participation for the past twenty eight years have made the semi-annual Philadelphia Fair a local institution. (Refunds due exhibitors will be sent asap.) Also, we appreciate the support of the thousands of attendees without whose support the fairs could not have been so successful.

And finally we want to wish Godspeed to the members of the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team of the Pennsylvania National Guard soon to be deployed to Iraq and especially to Sergeant Robin Johnson who was given the unenviable task of delivering the phone message.

Sincerely yours,

Tom and Rita McCauley
68 Wood Stream Dr.
Langhorne, PA 19053-1508
Phone/Fax: 215-757-1132