Inkwatu

TS Fay is past and, as it turned out, Tampabay survived without being touched at all. Others weren’t so fortunate: there was much flooding on the east coast and at least 6 died as of the writing of this post. There really is no such thing as an insignificant tropical storm. Many thanks to Lucy for her two guest posts (Part 1 and Part 2) while I prepared for a storm that, fortunately, never hit here. I’m back to take up the pen again for Inkwatu. Here is today’s post…

The personality of a place

The two cities—St. Petersburg and Tampa–facing each other across Tampa Bay have always had very different personalities. It’s not an exaggeration to say that a city has a personality. Exactly “how” it happens, I haven’t a clue. I’m not even sure what branch of study concerns itself with such things…sociology maybe? Geography? Regardless, it’s true that cities have their own unique character and like any person, have their own character traits. Part of St. Petersburg’s is its locally owned, independent bookstores.

In an earlier post, I profiled Haslam’s, that is definitely a great place and, justifiably, bills itself as “Florida’s Largest New & Used Bookstore” But bigger isn’t better, it’s just different. There are other independent bookstores in St. Pete that, just like cities and people, have their own character. One, that has been a favorite of mine for many, many years, is Lighthouse Books (1735 First Avenue North, St. Petersburg, FL 33713; 727-822-3278; Florida & Caribbean History, Literature of the South, Rare & Unusual).

One almost creeps into Lighthouse Books like a spelunker rather than walking upright, since the tiny house is so crammed with books. It resembles a cave more than anything else with bookshelves cantilevered above your head. Lighthouse’s tag line (”Rare & Unusual) is well earned. At their stall at last year’s Florida Antiquarian Booksellers Association Annual Book Fair, I was able to find several books I enjoyed as a child: old pot-boiler flying ace novels published during WWII that probably nurtured my current love of action fiction. The Annual Book Fair, which is held in the St. Pete Coliseum, is NOT to be missed. It, and other events held at the Coliseum, such as Floridiana retro exhibits, are inexpensive and fun, the kind of events that’ll entertain you for a full day.

The Florida Antiquarian Booksellers Association Member List is a terrific resource for finding independent bookstores throughout Florida; this list of “Indie” Store Links gives listings from all 50 states. More info on local independent book dealers can be found at Tampa Book Buzz.

More than one kind of “used book”

Incunabula

I’ll be reporting more fully on Lighthouse Books and other St. Pete independent bookstores in later posts. Today, I want to showcase another St. Pete independent bookstore that is a St. Pete institution: Wilson’s Bookworld (2394 9th St N, St Petersburg, FL 33704; 727-896-3700‎).

If you take a peek at the above Florida Booksellers listing (Wilson’s doesn’t have their own home on the web), you’ll notice their tag line is “Used & Rare, General, Incunabula.” Now…what the heck is incunabula?! I have a pretty good vocabulary, but I had to look that one up. I’m glad I did because I, mistakenly, thought I had remembered that it had something to do with witches and warlocks!

I was confusing incunabula, with “Incubus” (a demon that has sex with people in their sleep).

Wikipedia’s first few words about “incunabula” (what Wilson’s sells—no evil spirits at Wilson’s, I guarantee!) is very concise and understandable: “An incunabulum is a book, single sheet, or image that was printed — not handwritten — before the year 1501 in Europe. These are very rare and valuable items.”

Their tag line definitely gives an accurate picture once you know what incunabula means…just imagine a bookstore with used books that range from comic books and romance novels to manuscripts from the 16th century! That’s Wilson’s.

The ABE Books page for Wilson’s gives a link to Griffon’s Medieval Manuscripts, “Affordable Renaissance Art for the Discriminating Individual.” Dr. Griffon and Jeff Morris have been working together for the past decade. Morris is Director of Incunabula & Early Printing for Griffon’s. Two years he was also put in charge of Indentures (hand written medieval legal documents mostly dealing with land). Mondays & Tuesdays he can be found at his desk at Griffon’s pouring over old tomes. Within the incunabula community he’s been Internationally published (The Ship of Fools To 1500 ISBN #1-57898-523-4) and was the closing speaker for the International Incunabula Symposium held at the special collections library at USF last year. Click on the following Amazon graphic link to purchase a copy of The Ship Of Fools To 1500.

Comic Books…er, I mean graphic novels

I wasn’t exaggerating about Wilson’s carrying comic books. Haslam’s has them too, all finely packaged in plastic, but the Wilson’s collection, while it includes pricier items, also carries opportunities for the collector of more modest means. One reviewer on The Master List has the following review about Wilson’s comic book collection: “They sell new comics and have a subscription service but what is wonderful about Wilson’s is that most of the back issues in their back issue bins are $1.00! They also have a huge pile of quarter books you can sort through.”

Jack Kerouac and St. Pete

When researching for a post oddball things turn up. Usually, those tidbits are just things that I fritter away time following down the rabbit warrens of the Internet! Sometimes, though, those items relate in some oblique way. So it was that I discovered, in my research for this post (yes…bloggers actually research, they don’t just improvise off the top of their heads), that St. Pete was the final residence of Jack Kerouac! (This was in the context of looking up Florida authors—there are so many Florida authors, that topic deserves a blog all of its own!)

Kerouac’s home is still here–seems like someplace worth looking up some afternoon, just to say you did. Do check out Google Books, on page 37 of Pop Culture Florida by James P. Goss (Pineapple Press Inc, 2000; ISBN 1561641995, 9781561641994; 162 pages)—available for purchase at the Amazon graphic link above or here: Pop Culture Florida.

It has an entire, very intriguing chapter on Jack Kerouac’s final days here, entitled “Martyred in St. Petersburg.” Ornery to the end, he was a real presence in St. Pete’s literary/artistic milieu and, considering a number of people I know, today, in that milieu I would say he maybe cast the mold for generations to come.

Goss’ book is described on the cover as “A behind-the-scenes look at some of the people and events that have played a part in the pop history of the Sunshine State from 1945 to the present; A factual, fun, sometimes funny overview of high-living movers and shakers, lowly scam artists and criminals, and just plain colorful folks; Discover little-known facts about some of Florida’s most famous residents, visitors, and events.”

I confess to more than a bit of covetousness about this very nice little book. I hope to do the same thing some day with Inkwatu posts, edited into a St. Pete book. Goss’ book is definitely in the tradition to which I aspire. (I figure mine wouldn’t be grand enough to be a “coffee table book,” but it might qualify as a “dashboard book,” what locals leave in their cars to help them find a good place to eat.)

Jeff Morris, owner, Wilson’s Bookworld

Another tidbit to surface in my research for this post came about in stages. The owner is listed as Jeff Morris. Searching for that name, I found this Creative Loafing article than mentions a Jeff Morris who is both a photographer and owner of Wilson’s Bookworld. So, I went a-hunting for St. Pete photographers named Jeff Morris and came up with a beautiful website called Graven Images Photography. Not wanting to jump to conclusions, I queried Mr. Morris of Graven Images if he is the same Jeff Morris who owns Wilson’s Bookworld.

I was delighted to discover he is. He gave me a bit of history that’s not available online: his mom founded Wilson’s back in 71. He worked there part time since its inception and full time when he got out of High School in 75. He bought her out in 88 and has had Graven Images since 2000.

I urge you to explore his photography site. He’s a real photographer (not just a point-and-shoot guy like me). All the photos are beautiful. Some have a sense of humor (this one for instance) and some are mysterious (like this one). It’s tough to limit myself to just a couple examples—there are too many good ones.

A cozy store in a cozy city

Before leaving this post on Wilson’s just a couple observations about the store itself. It is COMFORTABLE! It has the real easy-chair environment that Borders and B&N imitate (but whose interior designer-purchased chairs are always taken by some annoying person talking business on a cell phone). It has all the various genres covered, including some hard-to-find used books within those genres. On the front windows and along the porte-cochere are hand drawn images of a fantasy world inspired “book world.”

Wilson’s is located in a part of old St. Pete called Woodlawn which has its own unique historical interest and character. Next door—actually sharing the same building as Wilson’s—is Memory Lane Antique Mall (2392 MLK–9th St. N., St. Petersburg, FL 33704). Across the street is an aging three-meal-a-day restaurant (the kind where you can get fried liver and mashed potatoes) with faux Baroque angels painted on the ceiling (Dave’s Restaurant, 2339 9th St N., St Petersburg, FL 33704; 727-895-6057). Dave’s has a nice collection of framed, old St. Pete photos.

Neighborhoods! Sidewalks. Little shops in close proximity. Incunabula…or is it Incubi? A human configured urban life that permits “making a day of it.” The St. Pete we love.

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