Who was W. R. Borg?

In my previous blog, I mentioned a certain W. R. Borg who I thought was a “fictional” author. In doing some more research, I discovered that W. R. Borg wasn’t a person, but rather a pseudonym used for promoting a self-help book sold by the publisher Aubanel starting in 1957. 

At that time, and well into the late 60s, the Avignon-based publisher advertised a small, 24-page booklet titled Les Lois éternelles du succès ("The Eternal Laws of Success"). 

The expensive tiny book was a bit of a scam, if not a real one. In a 1978 article, the author E. Dorlier referenced a text describing a "Borg" who offered the pamphlet for free to anyone who wanted to improve their memory. 

The address provided was the publisher's. Dorlier notes that the address given for "Borg" was "chez Aubanel, 6, place Saint-Pierre, à Avignon" (at Aubanel's, 6, Saint-Pierre Square, in Avignon), confirming that the publisher was the source. 

The name is a likely play on words. "Borg" sounds similar to “borgne” or "one-eyed" in French. It may be a wordplay suggesting that the book's methods would open the reader's "eye" to success, or it could simply be a catchy, pseudonymous name. 

In summary, the name W. R. Borg is a fictional name associated with a marketing effort for a self-help booklet published by Editions Aubanel.