Rick Simonson

A Different Village
September 10, 2007

As with most good sales rep calls, last week's visit by Seira Wilson for Harper's winter list included various amounts of conversation, some quite germane to the work at hand (how the store is, how Harper is), some seemingly more peripheral. Personal bits, politics, sports, the weather, what's happening elsewhere in town or the territory, matter that can pass as news or gossip, whichever.

One thing Seira reported on was having driven the 90 miles north from Seattle to Bellingham to participate in Village Books' farewell celebration for longtime buyer and person of graceful presence personified, Krista Hunter. I was miffed that I had missed it, but it sounded as though many others who might have attended did, not that it wasn't known. Krista gave notice of her intentions to leave a good six months ago. I remember hearing of it - with shock - at the spring PNBA show that took place in Portland in March. The long notice had nothing to do with wanting to accumulate kudos and tributes from the many who would/should, but rather to help Chuck and Dee Robinson, and everyone else at Village, with the many wrinkles to tackle inherent in such a major transition. She is still sticking around, and obviously wants to see Village thrive in the wake of her going. And her new work in an environmental-related field will feel, I suspect, in spirit much like what she has been doing, less the stress of retail. The going-away party was over Labor Day weekend - hence, the spacing out.

Krista Hunter's moving on is big news, not only for the good people of Village Books and the community of Bellingham and environs that it is so much a part of. It has ramifications, perhaps almost imperceptible ones, for many of us elsewhere, at least out in these provinces. Part of the good banter with reps is what buyers/other book people think of given titles, whether ones just being presented or others out and vying for attention. Anytime I ever heard of anything that had Krista's eye, I took note. Krista had been there 24 years - a tenure, so far as I know, almost unmatched in the territory, at least for individuals who aren't owners, but are playing key and vital roles. She didn't have that many peers in this regard, elsewhere, for that matter. (Those of us who don't fade away, often seem to find a way, yet, to repdom.).

Village Books has a national presence and reputation, as many know. That it does so, given its location - a small (though growing) college/border city way up in the corner of things (even more than Seattle), is a tribute to the work and efforts of many. Certainly, there are Garrison and Dee - I mean, Chuck and Dee Robinson (sorry, there are grounds for confusion now, as both Garrison Keillor and Chuck Robinson have their hands in the bookstore-owning game and as hosts of weekly variety show radio programs), who founded the store and do the vital things they do there at the fore. But no store of any repute would be with us for more than a hot minute were it not for the efforts of all sorts of other people beyond the one or two any given store might be most associated with. Probably no one played this steady, day-in, day-out, under-the-radar role better, more ably, more smartly, in there for the real work and purpose of it, than Krista. You would see her at BEAs or the PNBA regional shows - working her way, making the rounds. No flashing around, no preening at being invited to this or that 'A' list function (as some of us have been prone to). And again, there were the reps and what they would say, always in praise of her. Not always of everyone else.

Village Books' sustenance is also owed, I would maintain, to what still feels like a regional ecos - fragile and fraught as the independent book business is (most everywhere), this region still has its presences - three big independents in Seattle, a cluster of strong neighborhood stores here, and then elsewhere in towns and on islands nearby - Eagle Harbor on Bainbridge, Island on Mercer Island, Books by the Way on Vashon, Darvill's on Orcas, Edmonds in Edmonds, Parkplace in Kirkland, Snow Goose in Stanwood, Watermark in Anacortes, Scott's in Mount Vernon - in and between these and others, there is, yes, competition, but also an affinity, a sense of larger purposes and work held in common. Several of the stores cited have author reading programs. While some draw most largely from the many writers in the region, Village is very much a player in the national book tour scene - probably moreso than in any other comparably-sized community, certainly relative to a larger, more metropolitan market. In this they are, at the very least, quite linked to the work we do.

As summer starts sliding into autumn - a transition very noticed here, with a sense of these being the last blue skies, the last deep skies, the last brightness we'll see for some months, the lessening of daylight, the berries, apples, plums all ripe for the picking, the gardens giving up their yield - it is also a key time in the bookselling year, where other kinds of plantings and harvests will soon prove themselves or not. For Village Books, it's the first fall since 1982 that they'll be doing so without Krista Hunter. Back in March, as part of putting out the news that Krista was going, Chuck Robinson, sounding himself a bit startled to be saying this, said, 'We're looking for a buyer.' Well, they didn't find 'one.' No surprise there: it will take a group, a number of people, to take on what Krista so ably, seamlessly, and adroitly handled for many years. No doubt, they're all the better prepared for having been taught and worked with by her, and Village will, in its way, be fine. 

But people at Village and who shop at Village will surely miss her. The reps (one appointment this summer was a bit interrupted by a delivered package - a beautiful broadsife he'd had framed and was taking Krista as a thank you/farewell present) will miss her. Anyone who came within her orbit, such as myself, will also. Whoever she works with, and in whatever place and field will no doubt be richer and better for it. 

Posted by Rick Simonson on September 10, 2007 | Comments (0)