For me a good place to live requires
several elements – beyond safe neighborhoods, good schools, and a
thriving business community – most people might not consider
essential: a local newspaper intelligently informing the community, a
Friendly Local Game Store (FLGS), organizations preserving local
history, a public library offering programs for all ages and
interests, and a supportive book store. I was fortunate to grow up in
a town with a small but excellent independent bookstore that managed
to survive 30 years despite economic downturns and the growth of
digital media in today’s ever-changing Internet Age. The quiet
encouragement the owners gave me in my formative years fueled my
interest in fantasy and science fiction and helped inspire me to
pursue my professional career in writing, editing, and game design.
I first became really interested in
reading fantasy and science fiction back in high school. Sure, I’d
read Tolkien’s The Hobbit and H.G. Wells’ War of the
Worlds, but my involvement with roleplaying games inspired me to
explore the hobby’s literary origins. At the time my hometown of
Ridgefield, CT, possessed two independent bookstores: Books
Plus on Main Street and Books on the Common in a remote cluster of
shops near the main Copps Hill Plaza stores. Each had a small
bookshelf unit set aside for the then-meager selection of fantasy and
science-fiction paperbacks available at the time.
In the summer of 1985 – right before
my senior year of high school – I rode my bicycle into town once a
week to Books on the Common to purchase a new novel to devour over
the next few days. Back then most paperbacks cost $3.95, which worked
out to a convenient $4 and a quarter with sales tax, an affordable
weekly treat. Once I found a particular author I liked, I wanted to
read all their books. Bob Silbernagel established Books on the Common
with his wife in 1984 and ran it until his untimely death from cancer
in 1991. I didn’t know his name at the time, but to me he was the
friendly fellow behind the register who smiled when he quietly rang
up my purchase. He didn’t mind me taking the time to browse titles,
marvel at cover art, or read back-cover copy on numerous novels
before settling on a single paperback for my week’s purchase.
Before internet cookies, club cards, and lists of suggestions
generated by market-driven algorithms (“Customers Who Bought This
Item Also Bought…”), Bob Silbernagel took the time to observe and
care about what his regular customers bought. He quietly kept track
of what books I bought and made sure he had both the continuing books
in a series and other titles that might interest me in stock. When I
began reading paperback editions of Michael Moorcock’s Elric saga
and the other Eternal Champion books, he stocked every book in the
series on those shelves. He made sure I could buy all the Larry Niven
paperbacks to satisfy my hunger for his Long ARM of Gil Hamilton
stories, the acclaimed Ringworld, and numerous Known Universe
novels and short stories that still engage my imagination today. When
I started reading David Eddings’ Belgariad he stocked all
the books in the series so I could read them uninterrupted. He made
sure the shelves remained stocked with every title that might
possibly interest a teenager exploring his nascent and varied geeky
interests.
Many people at the time encouraged me
along my path of writing and game design, not the least of whom were
my ever-supportive parents and several key high school teachers. Bob
Silbernagel’s quiet encouragement – just making sure he provided
inspiring fodder for my fantasy and science fiction reading –
helped sustain and enrich my life as much as the more overt efforts.
The town of Ridgefield and Books on the
Common have changed over those many years – I wouldn’t expect
them to remain the same, other than in my nostalgic memories – but
the store still stands as a cornerstone of what makes a good
hometown. The store has since passed to new owners and found a new
home, not tucked away in a development behind a shopping center but
right on picturesque Main Street, Ridgefield (ironically enough, in
the building where I got my first job, as a clerk at Bedient’s Home
and Garden Center). We briefly visit it when making our annual
pilgrimage to New England to visit family. I’ve found books on
local history, my wife indulges in gardening fare, and my son’s
even found a beloved Pete the Cat book.
The brick-and-mortar bookstore provides
something digital venues cannot: the ability to freely browse a
selection of books not tailored by one’s past purchase or internet
history, but by the diverse offering stocked on the shelves by
subject. If I hadn’t browsed the store’s local history shelves I
would never have found Charles Pankenier’s Ridgefield Fights
the Civil War, combining an interest in my hometown history with
my growing urge to learn about my new current home, located amidst
many battlefields of the “War of Northern Aggression,” as some
locals still call it. On my last visit I’d hoped to purchase a copy
of The Secrets of Wildflowers – by longtime Ridgefield
Press executive editor Jack Sanders, with whom I briefly worked
in the early 1990s – as a gift for my wife. When I asked the
bookstore staffers if they had it in stock, they checked the computer
and apologized that they had no copies on hand. But as I wandered the
shelves, browsing at whatever subjects came into view, I happened
into the gardening section and, lo and behold, one copy sat on the
shelf. It didn’t stay there.
The debate on whether to buy books and
games from friendly, local, brick-and-mortar stores or seek better
bargains online continues raging. Some folks prefer one or the other,
but savvy consumers keep both their financial concerns and their
responsibility for the welfare of their geographical community in
mind; they find a comfortable balance between shopping online and
supporting their local businesses. Good game and book stores flourish
and survive by offering more than just inventory for sale. They
become community hubs for their clientele, providing a friendly
gathering place to enjoy their hobby, interact with other
enthusiasts, and expand their horizons with recommendations from
helpful staffers. Books on the Common knew this right from the start.
It provided an encouraging environment for a geeky teenager seeking
to broaden his fantasy and science fiction literary horizons.
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