I think that long time subscribers who have developed a burr under their saddles and refused to order the Volume 3 would be better to order and pay rather than wait for a "Go Fund Me" to appear. Mr. Cote's financial problems were and are a result of failure of long time customers to stay with them simply because a book is late in coming.
For me to develop a “burr under my saddle” I generally require evidence of bad faith. And that I have not seen from the Cotes.
That publication was clearly a labour of love for 30 plus years and it provided me with a vintage double education I just don’t know how I would have received otherwise. I am, I think like many others here, in the Cote’s debt. That they have fallen on hard financial times at the same time suffered personal setbacks of the most tragic kind, is frankly heartbreaking. That publication did so much for us.
I don’t think it’s an either / or. At least it shouldn’t be. Collections should be completed if short some issues they have. Slip covers should be purchased from their inventory. The Index and Reader should be ordered. And if a Go Fund Me is set up, a contribution should be made. It’s the least we can do.
Running any business is difficult. I can only imagine that trying to run a print media business as the internet took over was next to impossible. I wish the Cote’s well as they try to move forward.
