Entertainment
Bob Dylan recognises Bloemfontein publisher in celebratory tweet─── MORGAN PIEK 12:27 Thu, 31 Oct 2024
A Bloemfontein-based publisher has been inundated with interview requests from some of the biggest news agencies in the world following a tweet by a legend, giving recognition to his company on X last week.
Crystal Lake Publishing was started more than a decade ago by the former teacher, Joe Mynhardt, who has always had a deep passion for horror and fiction and eventually turned his passion into a career.
Starting as a hostel master at a local primary school, Mynhardt began to write short stories that he eventually published. This led to him leaving the teaching profession to focus on his publishing full-time. More than 200 published books later, Mynhardt became somewhat of a sensation following a very special tweet last week by arguably the most influential musician of all.
The tweet, which had over 1.3 million views by Thursday morning, read: “At the hotel in Frankfurt there was a publishing convention and every room was taken, parties all night. I didn’t know there were so many book publishers in the world. I was trying to find Crystal Lake Publishing so I could congratulate them on publishing The Great God Pan, one of my favourite books. I thought they might be interested in some of my stories. Unfortunately, it was too crowded and I never did find them.”
At the hotel in Frankfurt there was a publishing convention and every room was taken, parties all night. I didn’t know there were so many book publishers in the world. I was trying to find Crystal Lake Publishing so I could congratulate them on publishing The Great God Pan, one…
— Bob Dylan (@bobdylan) October 23, 2024
This was by none other than the legendary Bob Dylan on his verified X account. The 83-year-old Dylan was in Germany for three days during the period of the Frankfurt Book Show, where he himself performed in the city.
This simple tweet has led to interview requests from publications from across the world such as The Wall Street Journal, Rolling Stone Magazine, and GQ, to name a few. While this may lead to something major for the “boy from Upington” remains to be seen, but it has certainly made life very interesting for Mynhardt over the past week.
Mynhardt took time to chat to OFM News about his company and what the Dylan tweet has meant.
