Locked down and empty shelves

Publishing has come to a virtual halt because the retail shops are shut and, as result, so are the large distributors

Between 1975 and 1980 I was employed by a publishing firm. Part of my job consisted of having to visit different universities looking for possible authors and publishable manuscripts.

These trips usually lasted three weeks because as a junior employee I had to travel by trains. These travels were the best part of the job.

Just before my first trip, I was advised by a veteran from the sales department to carry a lot of books — and at least three cartons of cigarettes — because there was nothing else to do except read and smoke on the trains, and in the