The Art of Invention
An Evening with the Publisher of
The Boy Who Invented Television
Wednesday, September 16th, 2026, 6:00 PM
OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
$40 Non-Members - $30 ACW Members
Join us for an evening at the intersection of artistry and discovery — exploring the creative dimensions of invention, patents, and publishing through the remarkable story behind The Boy Who Invented Television: A Story of Inspiration, Persistence and Quiet Passion and the forgotten genius who inspired it.
This event promises a rich conversation at the intersection of creativity and discovery — exploring how invention, intellectual property, and the art of book publishing all draw on the same disciplined human imagination.
What does it mean to invent something entirely new? How do patents protect a creative vision? And what craft goes into transforming a forgotten inventor’s life into a book worthy of the story?
About the Book
Invention, at its finest, is an act of imagination. When Philo T. Farnsworth — a self-educated farm boy from Rigby, Idaho — first conceived of electronic television at fourteen, he wasn’t merely solving an engineering problem. He was picturing an entirely new way of seeing: trapping light in an empty jar and transmitting it, one line at a time, on a magnetically deflected beam of electrons.
Six years later, that vision became the world’s first fully electronic television system. The patents Farnsworth filed were themselves a form of creative documentation — precise, elegant descriptions of an entirely original art. Defending them against the Radio Corporation of America became a decade-long drama of creative ownership versus corporate power, a story as compelling as the invention itself.
The book tells this story with the care it deserves — a bestseller endorsed by the Biography Channel and praised by PC Magazine. Elma “Pem” Farnsworth called it a work that captures “the true spirit of my husband’s journey of discovery” — a journey that began in a potato field and ended in the living rooms of the world.
About the Speaker
Bruce Fries is a publisher and creative director whose work sits at the crossroads of ideas, craft, and commerce. As founder of TeamCom Books, he served as the artistic and editorial force behind The Boy Who Invented Television — designing the cover, setting the type, shaping the layout, and constructing the index — making the book as carefully wrought as the invention it chronicles.
His previous book on MP3 technology was also a category bestseller, launched through a national publicity campaign including CNN Headline News appearances and more than 100 bookstore events. Bruce brings a publisher’s perspective on the creative parallels between inventing something new and crafting a book worthy of it.
Evening Format:
6:00 p.m. Cocktail Hour
7:00 p.m. Illustrated Presentation
8:00 p.m. Reception
Dress: Business casual, or festive attire
