Publisher of 9/11 Commission Report Donates Portion of Profits

Anyone who has followed the events of 9/11 owns this published report. I also own a copy, and interestingly, they drew criticism for not donating a portion of their proceeds for charities related to September 11th. They did up making such an announcement soon after this issue surfaced:

W. W. Norton & Company, which published the first authorized edition of the 9/11 Commission's report a year ago, has announced it will donate $600,000 in profits from the book to three programs focused on emergency preparedness and international relations, the New York Times reports.

Norton will give $200,000 each to the Center for Catastrophe Preparedness & Response and the International Center for Enterprise Preparedness, both housed at New York University, as well as Johns Hopkins University's Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, D.C. According to Norton president W. Drake McFeely, the donation equals about 10 percent of the company's gross proceeds from sales of the book to wholesalers and bookstores.

Published last July, The 9/11 Commission Report quickly became one of the best-selling government reports ever, with the Norton edition selling more than a million copies, about 98 percent of those in paperback. Norton drew criticism, however, because it paid nothing for the rights to publish the manuscript and was given special early access to the confidential report by the commission, which wanted printed copies available in bookstores on the day the report was released to the news media. The commission said it chose Norton because the publisher submitted the best proposal, agreeing to sell the paperback version of the report for only $10.

Wyatt, Edward. “Publisher Names 9/11 Charities.” New York Times 7/21/05.

Twin Towers Glass

This was a piece of glass from the Twin Towers site that was given to me by a friend. Not necessarily a clear fit within my collection, as I don't collect actual artifacts from the WTC site, but definitely worth mentioning here.

Brass Twin Towers Tribute

A solid brass tribute to the World Trade Center, and quite heavy. The Towers each have a clock in them, stopped at the time when the planes hit each tower. There are numerous examples of tributes like this. My collection features a handful, which are posted on this blog. Each example has its own features, but this one is pretty unique. I also think this qualifies as a sculpture piece.

Girl's Bow Clip

A girl's bow clip tribute to the World Trade Center. The plastic piece in the middle of the bow has the Twin Towers, a flag and the words "Never Forget." A strange tribute (in my opinion) in that I can't imagine having my 3 year daughter wear this clip. I'm sure there would be those who would disagree. I do think this is another great example of the growing recognition (not officially) of September 11th as a "holiday." I look at a holiday from the perspective that there are consumer goods marketed and available for its celebration. No question that something like this themed bow could be compared to any other themed bow that a child would put on say for July 4th, Valentine's Day, etc.