Holding Dear: The Value of the Real

Meditations on what matters, from Steve Leveen and friends

“We tend to think of objects and feelings as different things. I wonder, when we know more, if we’ll come to see them as essentially the same.” --Steve Leveen

Read more from Steve on his blog. Click here

As we move ineluctably into a virtual age, there are still things we touch that touch our lives. In the Levenger Press book Holding Dear, Levenger co-founder Steve Leveen and a circle of Levenger friends reveal the objects that, for them, serve to inspire--thought, action, contemplation, renewal.

Discover what Patti Smith, David McCullough, David Allen, Ann Patchett and more hold dear
In this book you’ll find original essays by these friends of Levenger, along with more than 20 others, on the objects of their affection. Among the other contributors are Kate DiCamillo, Joseph Finder, Kevin Kelly and Ross King.

Tip: Click on the image of the back cover of the book to see all the friends of Levenger featured in Holding Dear.

Learn the true history of Levenger and the future of heritage technology
In addition to contemplating the present through these essays, Holding Dear delves into the past and looks into the future. Steve begins the book by recounting the history of Levenger (and how he overcame a youthful mistrust of objects). He then predicts which physical objects from the past--objects based on the heritage technologies of paper, ink and leather--will still hold a place in our virtual future.

Here are two passages from Holding Dear where Steve talks about the value of these heritage technologies, and the future of this Slow Tech:

“Digital files somehow seem to us to have staying power, since they can be copied and transmitted so easily. But in believing this, we may be guilty of the same kind of naïve optimism that has been associated with so many other breakthrough technologies in our past.…” Click here to read more

“The other day while I was cycling, a young man riding a cool white bike passed me. At a traffic light, I came up alongside him and complimented his bike, which looked to be old but expertly restored. ‘Thanks,’ he said. ‘It only looks old. I had it custom made. It’s steel.’ I tell you this story because it shows the role beauty can play in keeping heritage technology lovable….” Click here to read more

In a bow to the heritage technology of paper, this book has been printed on archival-quality paper as a handsome hardcover. It’s bound with a Smythe-sewn binding, the better to keep the book forever (or close to). It’s also proudly printed in America. Only from Levenger.