As a writer with two fictional series in print and a new book due out mid-January, I sit at my computer on a brisk November day with a smile on my face, coffee in hand, daydreaming about two of my favorite places: libraries and small bookstores.
As the child of a single mother who struggled to feed her family while working for The American Red Cross helping military personnel at Arizona’s Luke Air Force Base and supporting families in need in the community, my favorite escape was to my school library. There, authors like Jim Kjelgaard took me into the cool north woods, fishing clear streams and hiking with extraordinary dogs. Rudyard Kipling expanded my world while James Fennimore Cooper introduced me to our nation’s earliest challenges. Jack London offered my first glimpse of the far north and Alaska, now my home.
By the time I was in high school, The worlds of Hemingway, Steinbeck, Ernest K. Gann, and Zane Gray became a regular part of my life. We couldn’t afford the books I loved, but local libraries assured that they were available. No matter how difficult life was, the library was my sanctuary.
When my professional career took off, I set out to build a small library of my own. On those shelves were books from my early favorite authors. Added to that were books on science, politics, social movements and a host of other topics. Critical to selecting reading material were locally owned bookstores with owners who loved directing me to interesting topics and challenging opinions. The fiction writers they suggested, Vonnegut, Heller, and Michener helped shape my own writing. I loved and still love books that not only entertain, but make you think about the story and its setting.
I was reminded of how influential small bookshops are last month when I traveled to Sitka, Alaska. Part of the trip was to attend a local community foundation’s donor appreciation event. But a second agenda also took me to Old Harbor Books in downtown Sitka, a town once known as New Archangel when it was the capital of Russian America. When the owner learned that much of my most recent release, Tempest North, is set in New Archangel and the surrounding wilderness of the 1820’s, she promptly began stocking the book. It was with great joy that I reversed the purpose of my regular bookstore visits, by hand delivering an order of my latest novel.
There is nothing more valuable to the development of inquiring minds than a great book. I believe that this is especially true for young minds of youth living in challenging conditions. They offer a retreat as well as a vision of what can be if you are willing to live a challenging life.