I’ve been doing some thinking about the balance between “talking” and “doing.” As a publisher my career is focused more on words than actions. I do not doubt the importance of words, but I’m giving some attention to the fact that words by themselves do not put food in a hungry child’s stomach. They don’t bring a family out of the hopelessness of poverty. Words generally aren’t enough to turn injustice into righteousness. The powers of addiction aren’t broken by reading a book. Disease and its effects are not ended by a paper in a medical journal. Part of what I’m trying to do is to make sure in my own mind that publishing does not become an isolated activity, but a telescope that helps people see issues and a stimulus for informed action.