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Comment by jbcass | Hacker News Reader

I’m John Cassidy the founder of Klutz Books and right now I’m sitting shotgun in a long car ride. I’m so impressed that people have 20 year old memories this sharp. If you want to know about Klutz back in the day, Ask Me Anything...

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Dude! We were regulars at the store off El Camino when i lived in Palo Alto in the 80's. We probably bought 10 Aerobies there. Then you had a pretty good mainstream bout through the 90's. Thanks for the foxtail, juggling, harmonica, timer games knots and all the frivolity. I swear Klutz shaped my personal ideology.

Also, I can hang a spoon off my nose.

Like many here, I don't have questions either, but the Explorabook and Kid's Shenanigans were life changing for me. I always wanted a copy of Earthsearch, but some parts of it really stuck with me from copies I saw in the store (like the spinner and rice game). Thanks for the great memories and fun things learned! I can still hang a spoon off my nose, and can't wait to share with my kid. :)

Your books were a huge part of my childhood. The Klutz book got me started in origami, which became my primary hobby. I learned so much from all the earth science books. Now my own toddlers are starting to explore those old copies. Thanks for what you created.

Explorabook and Earthsearch loom hugely in my childhood memories; I can't think of another book that has stuck with me so much. Reminiscing with my mother now (I'm 30) about times spent eating biscotti in the Barnes & Noble cafe. Was recently trying to source a couple copies in Germany for a friend's kid. Now I'm reminded of the other titles, I'll probably get a set for myself as well :) Truly, thanks a million for bringing these into the world.

I think I will add to the chorus: I learned to juggle via the juggling book, and still participate in the activity to this day (~25 years later). Lots of friends and memories performing around my hometown in those intervening years, as well as large juggling conventions.

Still have my old copy by the way! Good stuff. I also vaguely remember writing you all a letter (on paper!) around that time, too.

So thanks for the book! It certainly changed my life for the better in many ways.

"The Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes" is one of my favorite books from my childhood, having (by far) the best paper airplane designs. Thanks for the many hours of fun!

How did the research process work while developing a book?

John these books were absolutely legendary in my house growing up. I still haven't shipped any bears cross country with no packaging but I'm thinking it would be a fun project to try with my girls these days. Thank you so much for making so many topics fun and accessible. I've recently been wondering if anyone took the "Klutz" torch and ran with it but haven't found many good titles to check out yet. Nothing beats the ready to go aspect of those books. Klutz was such a unique and incredible brand. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Thanks for the kind words! I have been gone from Klutz for almost 10 years. Scholastic runs it now and they have their own vision. I’m yesterday’s news!

Woah! OP here, first of all, thank you for all the memories and skills and laughs and friendship bracelets. How did you and the team decide what to "build" / "write" next? You really did seem to have every "kid essential" covered, but was there research or chatting with real-life kids? And what would you write today if you could make a new Klutz book?

If I could do a new Klutz book it would be something that was in the pipeline when I left that I was calling The Top 100 Facts of All Time. I still have a long file of candidates. The other day on Reddit there was a subreddit on stuff that seemed like fiction but wasn’t. The top entry was the Richard Parker story (Edgar Allen Poe is involved, check it out). I appreciated that because the Richard Parker story got me started on the whole idea many years ago.

Figured I'd provide a link to the reddit thread in case anyone else (like me) was interested:

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/hgsj41/what_soun...

You know, if you get bored during your car ride, you might consider picking up a Klutz book for entertainment. A new Klutz book was a staple of road trips in my childhood. Parents never heard an "are we there yet?" from us. Thanks for all of the great hours.

I became an accomplished juggler thanks to your first book! Thanks you! Question: I have had an idea for a Klutz-like book that I want to move forward with. Do you know if Scholastic takes submissions for the Klutz line?

Klutz books were a huge part of my childhood. I spent hours just looking at catalogs and begged my parents to buy me Goo and yoyos (never did get that SB-1). Thank you for all the witty and charming books.

Last week I found the science book in a Little Free library and I came home so excited. I have fond childhood memories of cooking hot dog slices with the fresnel lens. A book so dense with engagement. I am keeping it as a reminder of good design. Unless my nephew wants it :)

Is it OK to ask what you're doing now? Why did you stop, and what came after?

I bought Juggling...Klutz from a small local bookshop (New Saxon Bookshop in Bury St Edmunds) in about 1992 and taught myself and pretty much everyone else I knew (some were more happy about this than others) to juggle. I made sure to start everyone with the drop, which was such a great first lesson :) I then progressed to balls, bags and clubs from More Balls Than Most in Covent Garden. It was more fun that revising for A-Levels and has been more useful in the last 28 years. Thanks!

Going to have to "me too!" on this one--I also learned to juggle from the Klutz juggling book. Never got past three balls, but I still do that many fairly regularly ^_^

There's also a line from the Klutz Book of Card Games that ended up being an in-joke with my family that we still use 20+ years later: "You poor fool, I can read you like a book!"

Thanks for all the fun! <3

Just wanted to say, a couple of your books (Kids Shenanigans and the Explorabook) had a big impact on me as a kid, so, thank you.

I'd just like to say thank you! As a kid, I loved all of the Klutz products. So many hours of enjoyment!

These books were my absolute favorites growing up. I would spend entire weekends poring through them, making knots, building paper airplanes, juggling, learning magic tricks, etc. I can still juggle and it never stops impressing people. :)

Thanks to Klutz for the terrific and inspiring books (and other things!!)

Does Klutz Books still exist? I always thought it would be an amazing place to work.

Have you considered bringing back a physical Klutz store?

I don't have a question, but those books made a big impression on me. I have the three juggling balls from the book at my desk. They're wonderful whenever I need a quick break.

I have my klutz juggling bags sitting on my desk right now. Got them back out when we started working from home. I use them as a classic “fidget spinner“

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