New from Birdfeeder Editions:
?SOLO GIG: Essential Curiosities in Musical Free Improvisation
by Davey Williams
Autographed copies available for $15 each
at Reed Books/The Museum of Fond Memories
SOME THINGS YOU BOUGHT LAST WEEK
http://www.jimreedbooks.com
Astounding Science Fiction pulp magazine for June 1941
Western Story Magazine for March 18, 1939
One juvenile sports novel
Two old flapper bookmarks
Two hand-made greeting cards by Paula Williamson
Grey.? RIDERS OF THE PURPLE SAGE
??One Renata Tibaldi LP recording
DON QUIXOTE leatherbound in Spanish
HOW I FOUND FREEDOM IN AN UNFREE WORLD
Stephen King. JUST AFTER SUNSET & ON WRITING & STEPHEN KING GOES TO THE MOVIES
Patterson. STEP ON A CRACK
Winckelmann. ROME
Eight old postcards
12 old PEANUTS cartoon collections
Look Magazine for August 24, 1971
One George Wallace political? magazine
One page from 1950 New York Times newspaper
One turn of century gun advertisement
NINA CHILD’S DECORATING NOTEBOOK
National? Geographic Magazine from the 1980’s
Smithsonian Magazine from the 1980’s
Nine books by Gladys Taber
Frankl. MAN’S SEARCH FOR MEANING
THEODORE REX
Two old hymnals
One old view book of Jerusalem
Anne George. Two mysteries
Eight Roycrofters-bound books
Mark Childress. One novel
James Childers. One book
Fitzgerald. THE GREAT GATSBY
Kerouac. ON THE ROAD
Ha jin. WAITING
DIDDIE DUMPS AND TOT
One old botanical print
Bumper sticker: JESUS IS COMING/LOOK BUSY
Two miniature metal Vulcan statues
One Vulcan bobble-head statue
OLD WOMAN AND HER PIG
ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING (old technical book)
One broadside by Irene Latham and Liz Reed
Nabokov. LOLITA
PERPETUAL MOTION
Four very old photos
COSMIC VIEW
One stack of old math & science books
MRS. FITZHERBERT AND SONS
Haggard.? HAGGARD’S WORKS
Laurence Durrell. One novel
Balzac. GIRL WITH THE GREEN EYES
GREGG REFERENCE MANUAL?
CALLIOPE MUSIC LP recording
EMILY POST’S ETIQUETTE
LIBERACE biography
MR. BEAR SQUASH-YOU-ALL-FLAT
Agatha Christie. Six mysteries
BEARS
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? MR. TOOTLE
WHO IS TRAVIS MCGEE? lapel pin
Reed.? DAD’S TWEED COAT (autographed)
GREAT MEN AND FAMOUS WOMEN (1894)
Bradley.? FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
Ambrose.? BAND OF BROTHERS
Ross MacDonald. One mystery
Jemison & Reed. I WISH I WAS IN DIXIE (autographed)
Eight issues of TV Guide Magazine (1950’s-1980’s)
C.S. Lewis. 7-volume set of CHRONICLES OF NARNIA
Hunter Thompson. GONZO 2
Richard Bachman. Four novels
Alcott. HOSPITAL SKETCHES
MAGIC/COOKBOOK OF THE BIRMINGHAM JR. LEAGUE
Cavanna. MYSTERY IN THE MUSEUM
Butterworth. GRAND PRIX DRIVER
Three lapel pins
Eight old book parts
Twain. INNOCENTS ABROAD
Davey Williams. SOLO GIG (autographed)
DRUMMING THE SPIRIT TO LIE
Larsson. GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO
Two modern American novels
Air Surgeon’s Bulletin for November 1944
Haldeman-Julius. FILLERS/THE MYSTERY OF EXISTENCE
Julia Child. FRENCH COOKING
Jewish Melodies from Around the World LP recording
ALL? HAIL MARX AND LENNON poster
Two classic book on psychology
Old earrings
2 copies of CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES
5 clothes PATTERNS
Ban the Bra poster
Carter. OUTLAW JOSIE WALESL
WHIPPED CREAM
CAPOTE DVD vilm
IF YOU KNEW THEN WHAT I KNOW NOW
MUSIC OF THE 1940’S
Five PEANUTS books
Birmingham World 1965 issue of this civil rights news weekly
Dennis the Menace collection
DONKEY DONKEY
MR. BEAR SQUASH YOU ALL FLAT
LISTER HILL LATE A SENATOR FROM ALABAMA
LOST WORLDS IN ALABAMA ROCKS
34 lapel slogan pins
One fish print (19th-century)
WILDERNESS SURVIVAL
Harris. HANNIBAL
COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO
TALE OF TWO CITIES
BROTHERS KARAMAZOV
2 OLD LAW BOOKS
One Coke sign
Keats.? LITTLE DRUMMER BOY
Whiting.? NEGRO ART, MUSIC AND RHYME
2 ASTERIX books
Foster.? SLIPT
Several old POSTERS
Morgan. A TIME TO SPEAK
Sherlock Holmes book
Sherlock Bones book
Several posters from old Birmingham
Two old fashion books
Several music posters
O’Connor.? OCCASIONAL PROSE
Bettie Page photo
3 comic books
One photo of old glamour girl
101 FUNNY BUNNY JOKES
1 handmade greeting card by Paula Williamson
One philosophy book
Lewis Grizzard. One bumpler sticker
George Patton. Biography
Stack of old posters & film photos
Heinlein. GREEN HILLS OF EARTH
Bumper sticker. JESUS IS COMING/LOOK BUSY
Dutch tourist brochure
Old transparent negatives & slides
Readers Digest. 1952 September
Updike. COUPLES
2 pair vintage earrings
2 more pair vintage earrings
Two LES MISERABLES theatre pieces
Worship book (Catholic)
Fox. SERMON ON THE MOUNT
1777
THE ART OF WAR
Wolfe.? RADICAL CHIC…
Verne. 20,000 LEAGUES UNDER THE SEA
Wolfe. MAUVE GLOVES…
Lamarr. ECSTACY AND ME
Drinkwater.? ROBERT E. LEE
Grummond.? JEB STUART
Hill.? POEMS AND SONGS OF THE CIVIL WAR
Taylor.? FOUR YEARS WITH GENERAL LEE
Lytle.? BEDFORD FORREST AND HIS CRITTER COMPANY
Delaney.? JOHN MCINTOSH KELL OF THE RAIDER Alabama
O’Neill.? The later Plays of Eugene O’Neil
Lawrence.? The Rainbow
Waugh.? The Loved One
Long.? MEMOIRS OF ROBERT E. LEE
Huie.? THE EXECUTION OF PRIVATE SLOVIK
Huie.? WILD RIVER
Moran.? GENEALOCICAL ABSTRACTS
Childress.? GEORGIA BOTTOMS
3 Civil War books
2 kids books
2 old lapel buttons
Watt.? THE LAWS LUMBER ROOM
Kerley.? TREATMENT OF THE DISEASES OF CHILDREN
HEARTBREAKING
Crichton, THE SECRET OF SANTA VITTORIA
2 large records (16 inch transcriptions)
Disney.? IT’S A SMALL WORLD
MODERN MUSIC AND MUSICIANS
Richie.? GREATEST HITS FOR PIANO
4 GOOSEBUMPS books
One old love letter
Cassell’s SPANISH DICTIONARY
Garcia Marquez. 2 novels
Clive Cussler. 2 novels
FRANKLIN AND WINSTON
Galapagos travel book
One German-language book
Le Carre. One novel
Baker.? HOW TO PLAY GOLF IN THE LOW 120’s
LATIN AMERICAN SPANISH
One wooden cigarette dispenser
Jenkins. ?HARRIET
One golf book
One technical manual
One non-fiction book
One ASTERIX book
Brokaw. GREATEST GENERATION SPEAKS
3 Dilbert cartoon collections
Brooks. ELF QUEEN OF SHANNARA
Batman novel
One stack of graphic novels & cartoon books
13 45 rpm vinyl records
One bumper sticker
I can’t seem to rid myself of all the long-ago formerly-living people who have filled my life, fleshed out my life, enriched my life.
You’d think that, once people you know die, you’d be able to put aside your memory of them and get on with meeting new people, having new experiences.
Just doesn’t work that way.
There are many dead folk who continue to influence my life:
Helen Hisey, my 8th grade speech teacher, taught me not to be afraid of speaking my passion in front of audiences. She taught me that it’s OK to slow down and respect the crowd, have faith in their ability to absorb worthwhile information when it is delivered to them with zeal and humor and love. Helen still guides me, all the way from my starring role in the play Tom Sawyer (at age 13) to my role as Gabe in the new John Marc Green film Lipidleggin’ (at age 70).
Sadie Logan, my 2nd grade teacher, brought me up from a very deep and fearful place to a position of importance. She never, ever stopped believing in me and letting me know that I was the most special kid on earth. Fifty years later, I learned that she made virtually every student she’s ever taught feel the same way. We are all the offspring of Sadie Logan.
Jon Charles Palmer and Elmo Riley and Pat Flood and Arthur Voss were my childhood playmates who just plain accepted me as their friend and never had any reason to harm or dismiss me, no matter how stupid I acted, no matter how far away and out of touch I became. I still hang out with them in memory ever fresh.
Frances Lee McGee Reed, my mother, always laughed at my corny humor, always knew I was special, never let me get away with a lie or an exaggeration or a misdeed, forever believed that I was Number One in her book—even though my brothers and sisters felt the same way. She taught me that the greatest entertainment there is, is people-watching, and I spend most of each public day doing just that, with her invisible presence setting me straight.
James Thomas Reed Jr., my father, taught by quiet example. He was clumsy aloud, but his image as a learned and wise man was powerful without words. He was my earliest example of what a real family man does—earn the living, bring home the pay, sit silently in an easy chair after supper, reading books great and books seedy and books wise, from Mickey Spillane and Zane Grey and Edgar Rice Burroughs to Eric Hoffer and Harry Truman and Ogden Nash. A most educated man, though never a graduate, he set the example of steadfast tranquility.
Other dead people who look after me:
Pawpaw Burns was my elderly neighbor who showed me that if you really pay close attention to children, you can get through to them by simply noticing, simply respecting them for where they are at the moment. They can always tell.
Adron Herrin and Jack McGee and Brandon McGee and Pat McGee and Annabelle Herrin and Evey Hartley and Effie McGee and Georgia McGee and Gladys McGee and Matty Wooten and John McGee and Dinah Hassell and Elizabeth McGee and many other kinfolk accepted me, warts and all, and treated me with respect and good humor, making me react in horror when anybody tells me they are separated from their kin, cut off from the nurturing care that can come from kindly people who share your blood, if you will only let them.
There are crowds of dead people in my head and in my life and that’s OK.
Even better news: there are scores of living people who have helped me, too, many without even knowing it.
I see living people.
And, because of the wisdoms and comforts and joys left me by the deceased, I am better prepared than most to carefully weed out the unwise and hang only with the people who trust and accept me and make no judgements.
Thanks to those long-ago-passed, I have become a good student of life, and the lives they lived help me manage the bad days well, and enjoy the good days even more
(c) 2012 A.D. by Jim Reed
New from Birmingham’s award-winning poet Barry Marks
SOUNDINGS
Verse from Negative Capability Press. $15.95
Pick up signed copies of Soundings at
Reed Books/The Museum of Fond Memories
SOLD 4-30-12 to 5-5-12
Charles Einstein. WHILE THE CITY SLEEPS
Rilke. Three books of poetry
1974 CAR CLASSICS’ AUTO COLLECTORS YEARBOOK
Smith. DRAWING AND SKETCHING
One 1980’s car magazine
Thoreau. MEN OF CONCORD
Lang. BLUE FAIRY BOOK limited edition
Twelve Travis McGee mysteries by John D. MacDonald
GREAT ADVENTURE VHS film
LOVE IS LETTING GO OF FEAR
AROUND THE USA IN 1000 PICTURES
Three Civil War history books
Dickens. CHRISTMAS STORIES (19th century)
Three books on dreams & witchcraft
Fleming. YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE (hardback)
Argosy Magazine for 1965
Sports Illustrated for 1973
OKLAHOMA THE STORY OF A STATE
Time Magazine for October 22, 1965
Audie Murphy. TO HELL AND BACK
PEANUTS GOLDEN TREASURY
WALT DISNEY’S MARY POPPINS
2 old prints
1 MINIATURE BOOK IN GERMAN
One old copy of BLACK’S LAW DICTIONARY
Noles. HEARTS OF DIXIE
Allen Drury. One leatherbound novel
Richard Henry Dana. One leatherbound novel
One Babe Ruth biography
Four ?16-inch broadcast audio transcritions
Five John Sandford mystery novels
BENNETT CERF’S BOOK OF RIDDLES (illustrated by Dr. Seuss)
Hendra. FATHER JOE
THE PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
HOLY BIBLE/INTERNATIONAL VERSION
Haley. AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF MALCOLM X
Lang. BROWN FAIRY BOOK limited edition
Glaspell. BROOK EVANS
Twelve old postcards and snapshots
Paschal. ?TEACHER’S ?BIBLE COMMENTARY
Grffiths. ?CROSSING PLACES
Vreelan. ?CLARA AND MR. TIFFANY
Rash. ?COVE
Evans. ?PLUNDER
Kane. ?FAIRY HOUSES
One newspaper published the day the U.S. landed on the Moon
Two large art books
THE ALCHEMIST
Toole. A CONFEDERACY OF DUNCES
BOOK OF THE DUN COW
ROBERTS RULES OF ORDER
HILLS RULES OF ORDER
CHARLOTTE’S WEB
IN SEARCH OF ATTICUS FINCH
Isaac Asimov. Two novels
L. Ron Hubbard. One novel
Clive Barker. One novel
Photoplay Magazine for December 1961 (Elizabeth Taylor on cover)
True Confessions Magazine for September 1962 (Elizabeth Taylor on cover)
CHESS FUNDAMENTALS (1920’s)
Joseph Conrad. NOSTROMO
THIRTY YEARS THIRTY SONGS (1948)
Gary Larson. WEINER DOG ART & 1987 CALENDAR (FAR SIDE)
AMERICA RETROSPECTIVE
Tim O’Brien. THE THINGS THEY CARRIED
John LeCarre. SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD
WRITING FICTION
Schnorrenberg. REMEMBERED PAST DISCOVERED FUTURE
Bulwer-Lytton. LAST DAYS OF POMPEII (19th-century)
One 1917 issue of Saucy Stories pulp magazine
Publicity photo from 1968 film HEAD MISTRESS
2 books on JFK & the Kennedys
Three C.S. Lewis non-fiction works
One Thomas Costain novel
One paperback novel
Eight old ads & photos
ALEX AND TONY LEARN TO BE GENTLEMEN
MIRACLE IN BIRMINGHAM
AMERICAN PRESIDENTS
ARTEMIS FOWL
Three novels
Tolkien. THE HOBBIT
Tom Clancy. One novel
Alice Hoffman. One novel
MONET’S GIVERNY
Thurber. THE THURBER CARNIVAL
One DVD Disney film
Wending my way from abode to workplace each morning is an experience roughly like driving a bumper car down the freeway or tapdancing around hidden land mines. I’m so relieved and happy to arrive unmolested that I have trouble remembering what it was that made the trek such an adventure.
Let me go back ten minutes in time and examine what happened:
I’m grateful for the smiles. The clerk at the pharmacy is so pleasant and anxious to please that I just can’t help smiling right back. She always asks if anyone ever told me I look like George Carlin. I always reply that she’s the only one, but that I’ll take it as a compliment.
A close-cropped-hair young man stands at the corner outside the pharmacy and begins his panhandler routine. I just say no and wonder how he affords the cigarettes and cell phone if he needs to solicit.
There’s a sign at the corner, FUNKY FISH FRY, which is three days out of date. If I’m to enjoy the fish, I’ll need to re-tool the time machine.
At the post office, the clerk is all smiley and friendly today, primarily because I drew the one who knows how to converse. We have a good, informative time. Yet another smile.
I drop my laundry off and have a pleasant interchange with the employee, who by now knows way too much about me, since she’s been cleaning my clothes for decades. That’s yet another smile.
Driving on toward the shop, I have a revelation—one that I can share at a speech I’m giving this evening. My generation says DUH (pronounced DUUUUUHHH, as in stupid). This generation says DUH (pronounced sharply, DUH!, as in disdainful). There must be some metaphor there. Another smile, this time from me.
Two large ladies, lawfirm employees, never see me, though I walk past within inches of them outside the shop each day. All they can concentrate on are the cigarettes they’re frantically puffing on, and the gossip they are loudly sharing. All I can concentrate on is not inhaling, since secondary smoke is inescapable on my block.
I finally arrive at the front door and get a special, gigantic smile from the Piggly Wiggly mascot head in the show window. Within seconds, I’ll be safe from dread, boredom, addiction, neediness and superficial patter, all of which I’ve experienced between home and store.
For a few seconds, I’ll be peaceful and secure.
Then, I’ll roll the stone from before the entrance and open myself again to the World, the friendly shoppers, the saber-tooth tigers and the constant surprises that I later can write about on my little computer screen, just for you
(c) 2012 A.D. by Jim Reed
These students at Trinity School in Montgomery, Alabama attended my seminar, HOW TO BECOME YOUR OWN BOOK. They are book-ended by yours truly on the left, and teacher Robert McGowin on the right. A delightful, bright class!
Charles Morgan. A TIME TO SPEAK
Linking Rings Magazine 1972 50th anniversary edition
Wright. PALOMAR THE WORLD’S LARGEST TELESCOPE
Sudo. CIRCLES OF THE EAST
Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Weekly tabloid for July 29, 1876
Yank Magazine for June 25, 1944
Stahl. TOWERS
Waugh. ISLAND IN THE SUN
YANKEE FROM OLYMPUS
BASEBALL STARS OF 1957
Palmer. 12 WHO RULED
Patrick O’Brian. Two novels
Five novels in the GOOSEBUMPS series
BILL MOYERS WORLD OF IDEAS
Hamilton. PANDORA’S STAR
Ruth Beaumont Cook. GUESTS BEHIND THE BARBED WIRE (autographed)
Stephen King. DARK TOWER I
Perelman. THE LAST LAUGH
THE BUSBY BERKELEY BOOK
Lang. THE VIOLET FAIRY BOOK
One old publicity photo of Richard Nixon
Tolkien. One novel
Shakespeare. One play
Heinlein. TIME ENOUGH FOR LOVE
MR. JONES MEET THE MASTER
COMBAT WWI
MOSBY’S RANGERS
White. CHARLOTTE’S WEB (first edition)
Maxfield Parrish trading card
One old publicity still of Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra
BRITISH BOUQUET
Stephen King. CARRIE
CREEK MARY’S BLOOD
Asimov. Three novels
DuMaurier. JAMAICA INN
CIRCUS MUSIC LP recording
Stevenson. CHILD’S GARDEN OF VERSES
Emerson. FRIENDSHIP & ESSAYS
Bumper sticker for NATURAL BRIDGE
Thoreau. Two books
MY SON JOE NAMATH
One Howdy Doody Little Golden Book
James Whitcomb Riley. One book
Daniel Defoe. Two books
MILL ON THE FLOSS
HISTORY OF WWII
BING CROSBY bio
JACKIE KENNEDY bio
WWII HISTORY
Miller. A CANTICLE FOR LEIBOWITZ
Six old postcards
One old hand mirror
One old flapper book mark
2 old detached book covers
HUMAN BODY
Winston Churchill bio
Big Little Book. RADIO PATROL
Douglas MacArthur. AN OLD SOLDIER
Bramah. MAX CARRADOS stories
Several old 19th-century prints
Several Star Wars pub photos
Bela Lugosi publicity photo
LINK-BELT catalog for 1967
Birmingham World Newspaper from 1965 (civil rights)
Marx. THEORIES OF SURPLUS-VALUE volume IV
HAPPY ANIMALS
Carroll. ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND (2 copies)
Collier’s Magazine for September 8, 1934
Amazing Stories pulp magazine for May, 1957
Yank magazine for June 4, 1944
Piano forte primer (1890’s)
Samuel Adams bio
Van gulik
George Meredith novel
Newspaper commemorating death of Coach Bear Bryant
JAVA HEAD
Goethe. ITALIAN JOURNEY
Three wise sayings on show cards
I RODE WITH STONEWALL
Three old history books
Two books on Lincoln’s assassination
Eisenschiml. WHY WAS LINCOLN MURDERED? & IN THE SHADOW OF LINCOLN’S DEATH
SHAKESPEARE’S TRAGEDIES (19th-century)
Arthur Scott Bailey. CUFFY BEAR
Sewell. BLACK BEAUTY
Two Spanish books
LINCOLN LIBRARY
FAIRFIELD COOK BOOK
THE QUICK AND THE DEAD
Gibran. THE PROPHET
One tiny skillet
Motion Picture Magazine for December 1960
ROSE MAIDEN musical
CALVIN AND HOBBLES collection
SMALL SONGS (19TH CENTURY)
FAR SIDE collection
SWISS FAMILY ROBINSON
SEWING BOOK (1920’s)
VICTORIAN ARCHITECTURE
HOOPER press kit (Burt Reynolds film)
Cigar Aficionado Magazine with Arnold Schwarzenegger cover photo
Five old law books
THE EDWARDS ALBUM
METHODIST SUNDAY SCHOOL HYMNAL
Leslie’s Illustrated weekly tabloid for December 20, 1906
Terry Brooks. PRINCESS OF LANDOVER
One DVD film
JULIA CHILD bio
Meta Givens cook book
Three Yale Edition Shakespeare plays
Ray Branbury. FROM THE DUST RETURNED & ONE FOR THE ROAD
One Ray Bradbury trading card
Fannie Flagg. COOK BOOK
Two Nancy Drew mysteries
Bellamy. LOOKING BACKWARD
James Joyce. ULYSSES
Austen. PRICE & PREJUDICE
Dumas. THREE MUSKETEERS
C.S. Lewis. THAT HIDEOUS STRENGTH & PERELANDRA & OUT OF THE SILENT PLANET
Four U.S. history books
One WWII book
Arthur Rackham-illustrated ALICE IN WONDERLAND
Anne George. Two mystery novels
Santa Claus lighted figure
One 1950’s children’s craft book
20 books on reincarnation, mysticism & the like
Sixteen art books
ARABIAN NIGHTS (1920’s illustrated)
JONATHAN SWIFT WORKS (leatherbound)
SHAKESPEARE WORKS
FUN IN BED & FUN IN BED II
A TALE OF TWO CLOCKS
ROCKET JOCKEY
Some days at the shop, my visitors remind me of notes sealed in bottles.
Each customer brings a message to me. Often, the customer is not even aware.
But I see the message and treasure it.
Some examples of messages plucked from bottles that floated to the center of the Universe, which is what Reed Books/The Museum of Fond Memories is, most definitely:
1. One reader tells me how he discovered his first John D. MacDonald book by accident, while staying at a rat trap motel back in the 1980’s. Since MacDonald was so good at describing the underbelly of Florida night life through the eyes of its movers and victims, it was the right time. I sell the customer a bio of MacDonald, wishing I had read it first. Travis McGee was one dude.
2. A good ol’ boy browser noses about with his wife, and manages to do something any ventriloquist would envy. He talks without touching his lips together. You’d have to be there, if you don’t already know what I’m experiencing. “All right” becomes “awe ITE” and “yeet yet?” is actually “Have you eaten yet?” and so on. He was a cool cat back in high school. His ducktail has thinned.
3. Another junkin’ couple cruises the shop, and the male partner expounds on his store of imcomplete knowledge: “See that Ray Bradbury book? You know, he created Star Trek. He’s dead now.” 92-year-old Bradbury is not in great health but he’s still happy to be alive, according to all reports. Don’t know whether the late Gene Roddenberry is happy.
4. One more curiosity-seeker walks around with his pal and is heard to say, “With all them computers, people ain’t even gonna need books no more.” Employee Marie Peerson overhears this and reports back. She, too, is entertained by messages in bottles, even if the bottles sometimes leak and make soggy the messages.
5. A large baseball-capped man is awed by the life-size stand-up of Elvira, Mistress of the Cleavage, or whatever her stage name is. “She got me through my formative years,” he chuckles.
6. One silent customer forces me to read his mind, as he looks at an old publicity photo of Lauren Bacall. “Does she feel as pretty as she looks?” and, studying a Rolling Stone Magazine with Tina Turner thereon, “Does she do it like she dances?” I distract myself from further mind-reading. As Bugs Bunny said, “Enough is enough, and too much is plenty!”
7. One enthused customer is everywhere at once, overwhelmed at the variety of literary treasures she’s unexpectedly finding in the shop. Her shoes defy gravity, and she finally purchases more than she intended. I wish for a moment that I possessed a remote control that would allow me to replay her energy for the inspiration of other customers.
8. A happy young man picks a leatherbound Robert Louis Stevenson collectible book for his library and is already looking forward to the next visit. Yet another collector spends the entire day carefully deciding upon which century his next selection will time-travel from. He loves it all.
9. A Lincoln-conspiracy scholar has me order two more obscure assassination study volumes for his collection. He and his wife are always smiling and satisfied when they leave. Wish I could bottle them, but they are already bottles, and I their opener.
So it goes.
Anybody anywhere anytime who claims the old-book business isn’t fascinating and educational and riveting just hasn’t dared to take the time to come in, spend an hour or two, and allow the tomes of yore to whisk them away to better lands and imaginations
(c) 2012 A.D. by Jim Reed
Birmingham, AL- The Birmingham Multicultural Association (BMA), an all volunteer non-profit is hosting an International Street Fair May 12, 2012 on 3rd Avenue North in the Birmingham City Center from 11am-7pm. The goal of the Street Fair is to highlight and celebrate the diversity present in our city. This family friendly and pet-friendly event includes Birmingham residents from a variety of backgrounds sharing music and dance from around the world.
The day will kick off with dancers from the Chinese Cultural Association and conclude with reggae from “B-Law” Riddimwise. The other performers throughout the day will include Corazon Flamenco, Katie Cox School of Irish Dance, Celtic Folk Singer Marc Gunn and dancers from the Indian Cultural Association of Alabama. The featured dance company is world renowned dance theater Umdabu, the Birmingham-based group is dedicated to the preservation and presentation of traditional and contemporary South African history and culture. Featured musician is Colombian-born classical Latin guitarist Carlos Castilla.
Free Community Event Sponsored by Birmingham Multicultural Association
Performance Schedule*:
11:20-11:50
(Chinese Cultural Association)
?Noon- 12:45
?1:30-2:30–West African Dance classes from? Nathifa?and Salsa lessons from Rumba Latino Birmingham
-Flamenco Dancers
- Classical Latin Guitar
- Zulu Dancers and Drummers
Katie Cox School of Irish Dance
6:00 “
- Reggae band
The Street Fair will also contain educational vendors to learn about global issues and how to get involved in local efforts and area cultural groups.
Learn dance steps, participate in a “game show” to test your global and cultural knowledge and enjoy the Traditional Parade of Dress (fashion show).
Food Vendors providing a?variety of dishes from around the globe
While the event is free, event organizers are encouraging a $5 donation to help underwrite this vital cultural component. BMA Board Chair Melissa Kendrick said they are “also including a variety of artists and food vendors to compliment the musical line-up, as well as inviting local non-profits to have a presence and raise awareness of their causes and engage participants throughout the year in their work.”
The Birmingham Multicultural Association has no paid staff and all efforts are shaped by volunteers who serve on various committees. These committees help bring life to our programs and are the driving force behind the Street Fair.
The Street Fair is supported in part by the Alabama State Council on the Arts, The City Center Neighborhood Association, Sojourns Fair Trade store and WTTO. “It is our hope that the International Street Fair will become an annual event and serve to educate, inspire and entertain the citizens of Birmingham while highlighting the international aspects of our city and state”, said Kendrick.
For information on volunteering, becoming a vendor or sponsoring the Street Fair contact
Contact: Melissa Kendrick
205-994-4902 BhamStreetFair@yahoo.com
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