October 16 Breaking Trail book party and the Isenberg family in 1919

We had a perfect celebration for the publication of Breaking Trail today.

When we entered the Mt. Washington Observatory Museum we learned that the winds were 108 mph and there were white out conditions on top. We were VERY glad we hadn't spent the night and were warm and dry down in the valley.

I was delighted to see a huge cake with an edible cover of Breaking Trail on the top to celebrate the books publication. An enthusiasitc audience listened to my talk and I signed about 100 copies of Breaking Trail and 25 of Annapurna.

I'm thinking that the number of books signed each day might be a better quanititative number to keep track of than the Amazon rank which seems to flunctuate wildly. The time my Amazon rank was interesting was the Sunday Breaking Trail was reviewed in the NYTimes. It went from about 10,000 to about 1,000, reaching the lowest (and best) ranking about four on Sunday afternoon and then headed back up.

My second cousin Sue French just sent me the family photo below which we used to identify the people in the other photo.


The very tall man in the back right is my great grandfather Joseph Isenberg and my great grandmother Fannie Isenbeg is on the far right next to him. My Grandfathers brother Louis Isenberg is kneeling on the far left. This photo was probably taken in Rock Island Illinois in 1919.

Amazon Today: #6,909 in Books
Books signed 100 BT, 25 AAWP