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Conrad Black extends LongPen into UK

01.01.70 | Philip Jones

Disgraced media baron Conrad Black made a surprise 'appearance' to the UK yesterday for a book signing at Waterstone's. Black, who is barred from leaving the US and 11 days away from jail, used the LongPen to sign books at Waterstone's Piccadilly store from the study of his mansion in Palm Beach, Florida.

According to the Guardian, Black sold "about 20" copies of his biography of Richard Nixon to 22 paying guests at £30 a book. He did so with the ingenious book-signing gadget invented by the novelist Margaret Atwood in which a writer uses a touch sensitive pad and a computer link-up to guide a robotic arm - LongPen - clutching a ballpoint thousands of miles away, which replicates the inscription on the page of a book.

• Conrad Black
• LongPen
• Philip Jones
• waterstone's