The Book comes first

Here is a wonderful contemporary tribute to the culture of the book. It is part of the acceptance speech given by Diana Ossana and Larry McMurtry after receiving their Oscar for Writing (Adapted Screenplay) for Brokeback Mountain during the Academy Awards recently:


Diana: Thank you to the Academy. The duty of art is to send light into the darkness of men's hearts. Thank you Annie Proulx, she's right over there, for trusting us with your brilliant short story. Thank you to Ang Lee, and our brilliant cast for breathing life into our words. Thank you to Universal, Focus Features, Bill Pohlad, Michael Costigan, my dear friend. My good friend Mark Poirier, for giving me The New Yorker that had that short story in it. And thank you to my writing partner, Larry. And thank you for giving him this award as well.

Larry: …..finally I'm going to thank all the booksellers of the world. Remember, Brokeback Mountain was a book before it was a movie. From the humblest paperback exchange to the masters of the great bookshops of the world. All are contributors to the survival of the culture of the book. A wonderful culture, which we mustn't lose. Thank you.