Helsinki Book Fair 2025 (and 2018)

The Helsinki Book Fair opened this past Thursday and runs through tomorrow. It is the 25^th year for this event which attracted 98,000 visitors in 2024.

Tomorrow afternoon our son, Charly Salonius-Pasternak will be on one of the stages being interviewed about his recently published book, “Tuntematon Tulevaisuus” (The Unknown Future).

Today a memory popped up on my laptop from 2018 when my daughter, Alexandra Pasternak-Jackson and I presented at the book fair, one after the other, at the request of the US Embassy in Finland. She delivered a talk covering a selection of “American Business Books for the Millennial Leader.” I presented “Performance at the Limit, Business Lessons from Formula 1 Racing.”

We were not on one of the formal stages. We spoke from a slightly raised platform at the US Embassy’s stand, to an audience seated in nine or ten rows in front of us. I recall thinking it must be what it is like performing in a cocktail lounge. While most sat and listened, others left to visit other stands. Behind and to one side of those seated, noisy crowds bustled in the aisles heading here and there. A few stopped for a few moments to watch us speak and then moved on. Twice, someone I knew stood in the back and waved to me while I was talking. I never figured out whether it was appropriate to wave back under the circumstances.

In any case, it was a fun experience, and we were grateful to the US Embassy for given us a chance to perform as a father – daughter act.