2048: From a Bestseller to a Movement

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

–Eleanor Roosevelt

Kirk Boyd is a visionary. He’s an attorney who teaches at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law where he is executive director of the 2048 Project. He’s also a client and the author of 2048: Humanity’s Agreement to Live Together.

Kirk met Jeevan Sivasubramanian, executive managing editor at Berrett-Koehler, at the San Francisco Writing for Change Conference. BK published 2048 last April, and it spent four weeks on the San Francisco Chronicle bestseller list.

Kirk wants 2048 to change the world, and he’s using the book to help build a movement. He is a passionate advocate for his dream of having an enforceable International Convention on Human Rights, signed by every country by 2048. The date will be the hundreth anniversary of the signing by the United Nations of Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which Eleanor Roosevelt helped to write.

Kirk and Jeevan will discuss how to make a book a regional bestseller and build a movement at the Third San Francisco Writing for Change Conference, November 13-14, 2010, at the eco-friendly Hilton/Financial, www.sfwritingforchange.org. Berrett-Koehler is a conference sponsor, www.bkpub.com.

Kirk wants everyone to help write the declaration by contributing to it by mail or by email at www.2048.berkeley.edu. You’re welcome to help him change the world by participating. Kirk is a perfect example of how one writer can make a difference. If you have a dream about creating change, the conference can help you make it a reality.

From Bestseller to Human Rights by 2048

The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.

–Eleanor Roosevelt

The right book will change the world. Kirk Boyd’s new bestseller, 2048: Humanity’s Agreement to Live Together, is such a book.

Kirk, a client, is a visionary as tireless as he is idealistic. Last week, he did talks at Bay Area bookstores. He sold enough copies for the book to reach number two on the San Francisco Chronicle bestseller list the week of publication.

Part of the credit for the book’s success goes to his publisher, Berrett-Koehler, which is unique in its dedication to its books, its authors, and its mission: “Creating a World That Works for All.”

Out of the suffering of World War II came the commitment to prevent another catastrophe by creating the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Eleanor Roosevelt lead the effort to create it, and all countries signed it in 1948, but it was unenforceable.

The 2048 Project, based at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, is an international movement to create an International Bill of Rights that will be enforceable in every court everywhere. The project’s goal is for the bill to become law by the 100th anniversary of the Universal Declaration.

Kirk, executive director of the project, will be giving talks around the country and abroad about it. Everyone who wants to can help write the bill can visit the project’s website, www.2048.berkeley.edu. All proceeds from the book will go to support the project.

Kirk will be speaking at the San Francisco Change Conference: Writing to Make a Difference, Saturday and Sunday, November 13th and 14th, at the Financial Center Hilton. Dan Millman, author of million-copy selling classic, The Way of the Peaceful Warrior, will be a keynoter.

There are harder ways to get to heaven, but Kirk’s  dedication to his cause will guarantee his posthumous destination. His life will embody the words of the prophet who said: “All the way to heaven is heaven.”

I hope that the beauty of your dreams justifies devoting your life to them. Think big. Plant yourself in the biggest pot you can; spring is here.