In his remote grave, Fischer has no peace

Saturday, April 23, 2011 03:06 AM

Privacy isn’t what it used to be.

The latest challenge is Amazon.com’s bargain-priced version of its electronic reader, the Kindle, which will feature ads on its home page.

The book reader of yesterday has been transformed into a targeted consumer.

I can’t imagine Bobby Fischer – a voracious reader who haunted bookstores and libraries – surviving such developments.

The chess legend furtively guarded his privacy from other players, businessmen and media types continually on “the search for Bobby Fischer.”

He managed to keep out of the public eye for 20 years. But, today, a single Twitter post would blast his bunkerlike privacy to smithereens. Anything known of his location or habits could be instantly revealed to thousands.

Fischer adamantly turned down commercial offers. He fled publicity.

But even his 2008 death didn’t grant relief.

He was buried, as he instructed, in a quiet church graveyard in Iceland. But tour buses continue to discharge their contents at his grave site.

Source: http://www.dispatch.com

Chess Daily News from Susan Polgar
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