#BookSnapSunday – Don’t Panic! Towel Day is coming

“He felt that his whole life was some kind of dream and he sometimes wondered whose it was and whether they were enjoying it.”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

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With towel day tomorrow, the 25th of May, this week's #BookSnapSunday could only be a book by Douglas Adams, went with the title that started it all, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, my old, old paperback was falling apart so I now have a hard cover for my library, although the 2nd book Restaurant at the end of the universe is my favourite. #books #bookstagram #booksandtea #towelday

A post shared by Sharon Geitz (@sharon.geitz) on May 23, 2020 at 6:00pm PDT

Since tomorrow, the 25th of May is Towel day, this week’s #BookSnapSunday could really only be a Douglas Adams book. For those who may not know, Towel day is an annual celebration on the 25th of May of the life of Douglas Adams, author of the Hitchhiker’s guide to the Galaxy. Adams died suddenly and unexpectedly in 2001 at the age of only 49. The towel is a significant reference to Adams famous Hitchhiker’s series:

“A towel, [The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have. Partly it has great practical value. You can wrap it around you for warmth as you bound across the cold moons of Jaglan Beta; you can lie on it on the brilliant marble-sanded beaches of Santraginus V, inhaling the heady sea vapors; you can sleep under it beneath the stars which shine so redly on the desert world of Kakrafoon; use it to sail a miniraft down the slow heavy River Moth; wet it for use in hand-to-hand-combat; wrap it round your head to ward off noxious fumes or avoid the gaze of the Ravenous Bugblatter Beast of Traal (such a mind-boggingly stupid animal, it assumes that if you can’t see it, it can’t see you); you can wave your towel in emergencies as a distress signal, and of course dry yourself off with it if it still seems to be clean enough.”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

In honour of the author, fans carry a towel with them all day, and yes I have previously celebrated towel day even when at work. This year of course, it is less fun since we are all working from home.

For those that might be interested there is a Stay in for Towel day event hosted by the Save the Rhino organisation, Adams, also an environmental activist was a founding patron of Save the Rhino, and a dedicated spokesperson for the rhino until his death. As an activist and spokesperson for endangered species Adams is also remembered for his ground breaking radio series and book Last chance to see, a book about some of the world’s rarest and most endangered creatures. Remembering Adams is also an opportunity to think about what we face losing.

#BookSnapSunday is a weekly bookish Instagram meme hosted here at Gum trees and Galaxies.com, if you would like to join in please feel free to leave a link to your post in the comments below. All you have to do is post an image of a book. Happy reading.