As the man said, “The satisfaction of individual prestige, which we formerly derived from the possession of expertise, must now yield to the much greater satisfactions of dialogue and group discovery.”

This collection of McLuhan’s insights and aperçus is very largely the outcome of group discovery.

I must thank, first and foremost, Bob Logan, who gave me insuperable early guidance in shaping the chapters and introduced me to valuable material I had not known. No one has done more to explore and promote the thought of Marshall McLuhan than Bob Logan. His dedication should be an inspiration to us all.

I must also thank Michael McLuhan, who suggested putting these quotes online. All the way, since this project began in 1987, I envisioned the passages appearing in a book. But as you’ve probably noticed – I almost hadn’t — the times, they’ve been a’changin’. Books are fine but the information in them becomes more vastly more accessible – potentially, perhaps, more meaningful as well — in digital form.

I thank that illustrious poet and McLuhan elucidator, B.W. Powe, who offered me the help of his student volunteers, whom I dubbed “Brucekateers.” I thank them for their valuable contributions, notably Nicholas Trim, Tom Wilson, and Robert Swallow-Downes.

I thank Cameron McEwen, author of the web blog McLuhan’s New Sciences. Cameron is not only a very serious McLuhan scholar, he’s a superb archaeologist of vintage McLuhanalia. He has located valuable original material from surprisingly ersatz sources.

I thank Alexander Kuskis for his powerful encouragement over the years. Alex is also a McLuhan blogger. Alex has been finding and feeding fresh material into his site, The McLuhan Galaxy, for over a dozen years now.

I thank Kathy Hutcheon Kawasaki for her wise suggestions at a critical time.

I thank Andrew and Sabina McLuhan for generously granting the use of Eric McLuhan’s bibliography.

I thank the tireless Paolo Granata for his valuable contributions.

I thank Diego Gomez Lopez and Lawrence Angel who have proven indispensable in proofing the quotes, confirming attributions, and doing the dogged detective work of locating unknown attributions.

And I cannot thank enough, Mike (“Mikerochip”) McGrath, who translated over 1,000 pages of quotes into the form you have before you, a database that enables you to access the best thought of Marshall McLuhan at the speed of light.
I thank my partner, Beverly Lev, for tolerating the time and struggle it has taken to bring this collection in front of your eyes.

         ~ William Kuhns