I'm
not sure that either Rhoda or I listened very closely to Ricky,
and I'm not sure that even if we had it would have saved us from
all the mistakes we made running Maple Street Book Shop over the
next couple of years. Customers were interested in new books, so
we stocked more hardbacks than the store had normally carried, but
we didn't know anything about returns. The first Christmas we didn't
order nearly enough and with no time left to supplement what we
had, we ran out of Christmas stock. The next Christmas we over-ordered
fiercely and lost money when we didn't return books in a timely
manner. Not only that, we had no idea that the book business entailed
the amount of paper work it did. Systems had to be developed to
keep up with it all, systems which over the years Rhoda has perfected.
But we muddled along as best we could, miraculously didn't go under,
and things began to look up by the third year. Rhoda had found her
niche in life and once things were running smoothly at least, I
went off to try my hand at writing novels and found mine.
Many of the most pivotal events in
my life happened at the Maple Street Book Shop: I met my first love;
I learned of the suicide of a good friend; I made the two most enduring
friendships of my life; I learned about books and the world of publishing.
And I know that my story is only one of many that center around
this atmospheric hub of bonhomie for book lovers of all persuasions;
I am one of many thirty-year frequenters of the shop.
When Mary Kellogg and Rhoda Norman
opened Maple Street Book Shop thirty years ago, they were celebrating
their independence as women and free thinkers. When Rhoda continued
the tradition they began, she tempered it and balanced it and turned
it into a thriving store that has been written about many times
as one of the best independent book stores in the country. May the
tradition continue. |
|
Rhoda Faust, James Kirkwood,
and Chris Wiltz |
