BOOK
Dancing Barefoot
Dancing Barefoot
- Dancing Barefoot is a 2003 book written by actor and author Wil Wheaton. It is a collection of five autobiographical short stories chronicling his childhood stardom, blogging career, post-acting identity, and his love of technology and geek culture.
- The book was originally self-published, but its success—culminating in a historic book signing meeting with publisher Tim O'Reilly—led to O'Reilly Media signing Wil to a three-book contract and publishing a revised, expanded edition.
Randal Schwartz and the Powell's Booksigning
- In August 2003, during the O'Reilly Open Source Convention (OSCON), Wil held a book signing for Dancing Barefoot at Powell's Books in Portland.
- I attended the event to support him. At the tail end of the signing, Tim O'Reilly approached and bought Wil's very last copy of Dancing Barefoot, officially selling out the entire event.
- As Wil was packing up his bag, I noticed the small, laminated table placard and gave him a piece of advice that he quoted in his 2004 memoir Just a Geek:
"You should take that, Wil. It's from your first signing. You're going to want that someday."
- Wil took the sign off the table and later wrote that holding it made him realize how significant the moment was—even better than sitting at the helm of the Enterprise, because "it was real."
What links here
These facts are as Randal recalls them, but much time has passed for most of this. If you find a factual error, please email realmerlyn@gmail.com.