Tag Archives: used book stores

Agnes Grey dishes the Dirt

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Hi, I’m Agnes. Agnes Grey. My kittens and I came to stay here at Tales of the Lonesome Pine until suitable homes could be found for each of us. You’ve heard the story before, I’m sure; I met this Tom, he said he loved me, then after the kittens were born –seven of the most adorable fluffballs in every shade of grey – did he call? Visit? Send flowers? He did not.

But the people at the bookstore took us in from that scary shelter place, because they work for an animal rescue called PAWS. We’re not going to live here forever, but it’s a good stopover for a cat to get her four feet under her again, regroup, see that the children go to good homes.

The children… well, there’s a sad story for you. There were seven, sweet as honey buns, cute as… well, cute as kittens. I would have liked to give them a better start, but times were rough. I didn’t have a home of my own during pregnancy, only nine months old when I got knocked up–and my “family” took me to that shelter when I did!

So my babies were born in jail, and they contracted coccidea (which is sort of like kitty cholera) and five of the seven have left this world. At least they all passed here at the bookstore, with medical care in a soft kitty bed. I cry my eyes out when I think of all the kittens back at the jail–er, shelter–who die alone. They’ve committed no crime, except being born–and that’s not their fault. If humans won’t spay and neuter, what’s going to happen? You think I WANTED to be mom to seven, and me still a teenager? If I’d had the money and could talk, I’d have gotten myself seen to, you can bet! It’s just $50 with the county program.

So now it’s just me and the twins: Earl and Zane. Earl is the feisty one, very independent, likes his ears rubbed but don’t try to pick him up! He’ll be a great hunter someday. Zane is the cuddler in the family, loves to be held against a woman’s chest and baby-talked. Well, you know, he takes after his father….

I’ve enjoyed this chat, and I hope it’s made you think about doing in your own home or business what the bookstore does: fostering cats like me who need a little space to come right in this life. We haven’t done anything bad; we’re just down on our luck. And with help from nice people like you–and spaying and neutering by pet owners everywhere!–we can lick the overpopulation problem. Eight thousand animals every day, killed because there are no homes? Really? Thank God my boys and I won’t be among, but doesn’t it break your heart? So please, adopt your next pet, and if you can, foster some cats like me (or dogs if you must) so they can find a good place to live.

Thanks for listening–and if you want to see the twins or me in the fur, please come on down to the bookstore! They’re open Tuesday-Saturday, 10-6. I’d like to meet my boys’ future parents, you know? (That’s Zane and Earl below; Earl is on the left. Aren’t they handsome?)

Editor’s note: Agnes was adopted today by a man who lives alone on a farm; Earl and Zane went to a family with twin boys. If only all cat tales had such happy endings!

 

“Hi, this is NPR” or: Sincerity is a Virus

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Something interesting happens in the brain when you pick up your bookshop’s telephone and a a voice says, “Hi! This is NPR calling.”

Yeah? Pull the other one; it’s got bells on.

But it really was NPR, in the form of a nice lady named Gemma, who in her gorgeous English accent explained they were interested in doing a story about our search for a shop-sitter.

Talk about viral: that’s what happened to our “vacancy” trading full room and board–but no salary–for two months of freedom for Jack and me to run around bookshops, selling my book and enjoying the camaraderie of other bookslingers. The info went into a Swedish literary magazine, several New York publications, the L.A. Times, and then Wednesday I picked up the phone and said, “Good morning, bookstore” and Gemma was on the line.

Happy as we are personally for this publicity, we take it as a sign that reports of bookstores’ deaths have been greatly exaggerated in the media at large (saving Linda Wertheimer’s presence; she was our very professional and kind interviewer). If no one cares about bookstores, or the printed books they sell, why have so many people applied for this position, with we don’t know how many more applying between now and Sept. 7? (That’s a Friday, and the new cut-off date; we want to do final phone calls Monday 10th and have the person by Monday night.) One article called it “The Last Great Job in America,” while a few thousand people online re-posted and re-sent and make wistful comments like, “Oh, isn’t this a dream job!” and “How I wish I could!”

Because we all long for what bookshops provide: honesty, kindness, a human connection, and a literary balance to our lives. Small shops are spaces that let us breathe; books are mind-blowing devices that change our lives. Who could ask for anything more?

Someone congratulated me recently on “successfully pulling off a viral marketing campaign” and I almost hit her. Sincerity is not marketing. We needed a shop sitter, asked Kim at Facebook’s Goodwill Librarian and Robert Gray of Shelf Awareness to help us find one, and hit a societal artery. I wish marketers everywhere would look at what we hit, and stop making assumptions about what Americans need when it comes to books and bookstores. Look again. LOOK!

OK, enough with the soapbox. Just please keep in mind that our shop-sitter will be someone who has that elusive yet easily-observed quality of being genuine. What else are we looking for? Jack and I laugh that we’re hunting someone who has a basic familiarity with the collective library of humanity, a sense of wonder at the stories humans tell and write down, and a brisk efficiency toward cat pee. One of our cats is senile. (Don’t get stars in your eyes; this is a real job involving dog hair, spiders and heavy lifting.)

We need this person or persons Sept. 20-Nov. 20 because the shop wants covering during the town’s annual Celtic Festival. Don’t worry; we will train you in all the other intricacies, but straight sales are the easiest part, and those happen during Big Stone Celtic, when the town is converged on by Celtophiles from around the States.

Potential shop-sitters please send to jbeck69087@aol.com your experience with litter boxes, history with books, proof you are nice but not a pushover, and what you would do if you were suddenly called home for a job or emergency, plus any questions you have for us. Thanks!

(Btw, if anyone wants to enter Caption Contest VI, it’s just a couple of blog posts down, and a lot of fun. The picture is so gosh darn cute. Scroll down if you fancy it.)