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"This is the first
of what we hope to be a monthly newsletter. Our purpose is to
make it informative, as well as fun. It's certainly been fun
putting together this first one!
My oldest son Joe, who you
may have seen working here back in March, has agreed to be our
editor. His qualifications are excellent, as he edited all my
papers through college a few years ago. He's agreed to fit the
newsletter into his busy schedule of work & school on the
condition that I let him write his own folklore column — don't miss it, his interest
is contagious."
With those words the tradition
of the Book Again Newsletter began.
As I recall, it was November
of 1985, and my brothers and I had assembled at my mother's for
dinner. During the course of the meal, she announced that she
planned to open a store of some sort, and asked us for ideas.
I personally pushed for a used record store, but the winning
concept was, as you well know, a used Book Store. Brother Mike
and I volunteered to help set it up, and Mike further signed
on as Store Manager.
On opening day all the brothers
were there, helping out to an extent but mostly, I fear, just
getting in each other's way. I believe Mom has proof of this
on video.
At any rate, the store opened
in March of 1986. Mom had been searching for a name for the store,
and, mindful of a song I had once written called "Look Again,"
I jokingly suggested "Book Again."
She liked it.
And here we are — is it
really twenty years later?
Mom had always been —
shall we say — persuasive...
Her enthusiasm for certain
things was generally contagious, especially, I think, for me,
and one of her life long enthusiasms was of course for reading.
She used to speak longingly about her childhood years, those
days long ago when certain stores would actually rent new books,
operating essentially as modern Video rental stores do today.
She would frequently muse on the sadness that such stores no
longer existed, and I truly believe that when she hit upon opening
a used book store her intent was to operate in a manner not entirely
dissimilar to those stores — where the avid and chronic
reader (and aren't we all?) could pick up a bagload of books
for a very affordable price, return another bagload for credit,
and pick up yet another, etc.
Truly, Book Again is and has
always been a store run by book lovers for book lovers!
I have been writing these columns
for twenty years, and plan to for at least another twenty. It
has been a continual delight to regale you all with such whimsy
as I accidentally stumble upon, and of course any requests for
future columns continue to be welcome!
At any rate, CONGRATULATIONS,
MOM, on TWENTY YEARS!!!!!
Your son, .......
Joe ........
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