The Kindness of Strangers

In writing each of my books I have found that much of the information and enjoyment received is through the strength of weak ties and the kindness of strangers There have been interesting articles written under these titles, one particularly by David Constant, Lee Sproull and Sara Kiesler titled "The kindness of Strangers: The Usefulness of Eectronic Weak Ties for Technical Advice". Although such articles are based on the world of business, the principle applies equally well in other aspects of life. In my case I wanted to write about people in different lines of business, from sport, community and service, the arts and sciences. In some cases I knew the people but in many I didn't so approached them through friends or other strangers who I believed would be able to 'put me in touch'. The point is that people generally like to be helpful to others - I have been impressed by their kindness and over time my circle of 'friends' has grown to include many of these 'weak ties' and former 'strangers'.