After a long hiatus

Lamenting the recent passing of Acres of Books in Long Beach, I surfed the web one day a few weeks ago, frantic to find a local used bookstore still in business. I came across an article from last July's Easy Reader that featured several of the last remaining used bookstores in the South Bay. The article's author, Bondo Wypolski, is a well-read fellow and a writer I know and admire as he'd written years ago about Vinegar Hill, the Bookstore back when I had that retail storefront. It occurred to me while reading his piece that the four booksellers profiled had all opened their used bookstores more or less around the same time I opened Vinegar Hill Books in 1992. Reading the interviews took me back. I closed my shop in 1998, rented a work studio and made my living bookbinding and selling books online. These people, made of stronger stuff than I, persevered on the retail front and, well, you can read Bondo's article for more on that.

That afternoon, I went to visit Sandpiper Books - I'd never been there, though I'd conversed with proprietor Christine a few times over the years. I found a few good ones to add to my astrology library and introduced myself to Christine at the cash register. She asked if I still did book binding and repair. I decided to tell her that yes, I do. She took my number and within a week I had a couple of calls, one of which resulted in a job. Around the same time a very patient book client of mine called to discuss his encyclopedia set....and the single volume I had still in my possession. A couple of other events happened, clearly directing me back to work bench. So after a few years of bookbinding hiatus, I have re-entered the Workshed.