36. Towel Day 2025: Readathon

Save the dates: April 14 - May 25

Dear Reader,

It still hasn't sunk in yet. Being elected as Towel Day Ambassador was not on my 2025 bingo card :)

Neither was waking up to my face on the same page as Douglas Adams’ :D

Douglas Adams’ fanbase is big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is.

It feels like a dream to be elected as its representative. I can't wait to fulfil my duties with The Guide and my towel at hand.

A mega thanks to all who made this possible. Everyone who voted, my worthy opponents Nemo and Ed, the froody organizers, and Douglas Noel Adams - without whom the world would have been a lot less funny.

I have two major responsibilities as Towel Day Ambassador -

• “Increase the number of people that know about Douglas Adams and his works”

• “Increase the depth of knowledge people have about Doug and his works”

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Before I get down to my plans, I want you to watch the videos we submitted as our applications.

Nemo Thorx

Edward Hunter

Me

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Below is the text of my video application, inviting you for our readathon celebrating DNA -

Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.

Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is a mostly harmless blue-green planet where an ape-descended teenage reader, sometime in the mid-2000s, discovered a book unlike any other he had had the pleasure of reading.

The reader, me.

The book - The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Hi. I'm Nitin Goel from Delhi, India, and this is my application for the post of Towel Day Ambassador 2025.

I am the Founder and Reader-in-Chief at Project Bibliotherapy - a two-person venture nudging the world to scroll less, read more, read better since March 2020.

Douglas Adams and his creations have been an integral part of our journey since day one.

There have been more than 42 ways, over the past 5 years, in which we have celebrated his life, the universe and everything.

Starting with sharing posts on Instagram, to rereading the trilogy of five during peak lockdown, creating zines inspired by Douglas Adams, partnering with PanMacmillan India three years in a row to celebrate Towel Day at a Kunzum bookstore, gifting more than 42 copies of the greatest book in the galaxy to readers around the world, and recommending his works to everyone we meet, online and offline.

And yes, we have kept our towels handy on this long strange trip :)

Now this year, Project Bibliotherapy welcomes you to join us for our Towel Day 2025 Readathon from April 14 - May 25.

We will be sharing one link related to Douglas Noel Adams, daily for 42 days, for your reading / viewing / listening pleasure, via the following platforms

Share this post and Enjoy with a fellow frood as we pay homage to our unseen mentor.

To quote him, I may not have gone where I intended to go, but I think I have ended up where I needed to be :)

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And finally, to cap off a long letter, Project Bibliotherapy is a 100% reader-funded venture dedicated to promoting the joy of reading.

The best way to support us and our mission is to gift yourself and your loved ones anywhere in the world a Readers of 42 membership.

Don't panic, keep your towel at hand and thank you for reading :) - Nitin

PS. Calling fellow froods on this mostly harmless planet — If you'd like to volunteer your services to make this Towel Day the most epic of them all, reach out to us at project (dot) bibliotherapy (at) gmail (dot) com

PPS. We resume our weekly mails with 5 things to read next Thursday onward.