Well, I promised to let you guys know if I received a reply about getting this book across the border and I did - but it was not exactly what I was expecting. First here's the text of part of my email to the author:

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"As a fan of your Buffalo Stories site, I was thrilled to find out you’d written a new book about the history of broadcasting in the city. And then, I was immediately deeply disappointed. Here’s why.
 
I tried to order a copy of your newest work only to find the store involved does not ship to Canada. I live in Toronto and am one of many boomers who grew up feeding on Buffalo TV and radio as a constant media meal. I was more than willing to pay the exchange and the postage for this new tome, only to discover I’m apparently on the wrong side of the world by less than 100 miles.
 
I have no idea who made this decision but I think it’s an unfortunate one...You may be missing a potential audience and sales by not making it available to us in the Great White North. The border may be shut down by COVID, but the mail can still go through. 
 
Is there any way you might impose upon whoever made this bad border-biased ban to change it?...There are a lot of readers here who might want to turn the page on this policy - and on what looks like a fascinating book, as well. I hope to be one of them. Many thanks for your outstanding site and best regards."

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So that's essentially what I wrote him. This morning, I received this rather surprising reply.

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"The insinuations in this email are insulting. 

The cost for me to ship this book to Canada is $27.05, $1.10 more than the price of the book... which I found out while losing money out of my own pocket to ship a book to Canada. 

I refuse to charge a ridiculous $27.05 to mail a book.  

My uncle lives in Fort Erie, about 6 miles from my home as the crow flies. He will not be getting a book until the border reopens. 

Beyond that, the customs form has also become an onerous document, which forces me to ask the addressee questions beyond those which would normally appear on an envelope."

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Wow. OK, I know tone can be misinterpreted in an email, but I don't think I was in any way "insulting." It certainly wasn't my intention. In any event, if this book interested you and you don't have a U.S. address, it appears you're out of luck.   

I just received a follow-up from Mr. Chicon and in the interest of fairness, I felt I should post it here. 

"Sorry about the misunderstanding. I woke up to a handful of hostile emails and then read yours— I usually try to give people the benefit of the doubt, but the inbox was rough this morning.  

No excuse, though... Sorry. 

I truly appreciate your enthusiasm for the book— I know I’d feel similarly about a Toronto or Hamilton media book— but I can’t imagine anyone willing to pay $60US for it.  

Here’s the only solution I can think of— 

You post a special offer for Canadian customers at $50, offer good til the end of the month. At the end of the month, I send all those books to you in a single large package, already in envelopes and addressed, along with whatever is left over from the postage for you to use to send out the books. The hope is one large package to Canada will save money on that leg of shipping. 

I don’t suspect there will be many takers, and it’s a bit of work for you, but it’s the only thing I can think of."

I certainly appreciate the apology and it explains a lot. Who hasn't had days like that? I never got the impression this man was unreasonable and his site, Buffalo Stories, is very entertaining and there's lots of great reading there for Buffalo radio and TV fans.  If you're one of them, I highly recommend it. 

Anyway, that offer is open, although I doubt, as he notes, there will be many takers.  

Old fashioned email. It was the easiest way to reach him. 

Over the years, I have purchased many of Joel Whitburn's Billboard chart books. The publisher, Record Research Inc. does ship to Canada but the shipping charges are about $22 plus the exchange on the dollar. Not cheap, but I find them interesting and I am willing to pay the price. I wonder if places like Indigo would be interested in stocking the book. 

After reading the review, I am also unhappy this book is unavailable in Canada. An abundance of information and photos packed into those 432 pages.

You may remember when I first posted this story centering on Steve Cichon's book about the history of Buffalo Broadcasting, and his refusal to ship to Canada.

But there's good news. By sheer accident, I discovered that the book is now available in Canada through Amazon.ca. It's a bit pricey for a paperback ($33.26 plus shipping, unless you have either Prime or order over $35 worth of stuff) but beyond physically crossing the border, it's the only way I know of to get it. 

I was lucky - I happened to have a spare $25 Amazon gift card, so the thing cost me just 15 bucks. So yes, I've ordered it and once it gets here, I'll let you know if it was worth that long wait. (A Kindle version is also available for download, and costs just $12.70.)

Rarely has it been so hard to get a book in your hands as this one. Nice to see it finally is possible. If you grew up watching Buffalo TV or listening to its radio, it certainly looks enticing. (The site also offers you a chance to at least look at the table of contents if that will help you decide.) 

If you're interested, here's the order page. 

100 Years of Buffalo Broadcasting on Amazon.ca

I ordered the physical book, because I prefer that version. But I'm glad to hear you were able to get it and that it looks good. At over 400 pages (in paperback at least) there's a lot to see. Can't wait for my copy to arrive later this week!

Mine is supposed to arrive on Thursday. So, what are your first impressions? Worth the wait and the money?

Got my copy today from Amazon.  Thanks for the heads-up.
Thick book with lots of photos.  433 pages!
I also noticed on the last page it states "Manufactured by Amazon.ca  Bolton, ON"

Steve Cichon always writes interesting books... he also wrote Irv! - Buffalo's Anchor Man.

Steve "gets" our fascination of broadcast history in the SOWNY area.

Davester.