The Bookstore

(An Ongoing Series with New Images & Stories to be Added)

So often a visit to a bookstore has cheered me and reminded me that there are good things in the world.
                                -Vincent Van Gogh

Bookstore in a Cellar

Once when granddaughter Lexey was much younger, I gave her a book that I thought she would like to read. Instead of opening it up, she held it up to her nose, and said, “This book smells like an old book!” That was not meant to be a criticism of my gift, but an expression of delight. Both she and her mom, my daughter, then and today, love and hunt down old books. And what better place to hunt down old books than the local neighborhood bookstore. It is even better when these bookstores stock local and new authors.

Back to granddaughter and daughter, I see their love of books as my gift to them. I love to wander the aisles of the bookstore, the quainter and more local, the better. Those bookstores, speak of a love affair with not only books, but also with reading.

The Book Store (Through the Window)

Central Bookstore
Amherst, Ohio

Central Bookstore
Amherst, Ohio

So many old books
I want to hold them in my hands
I want to hear the spine creak as they're opened
I want to smell the leaves
I want to savor the words
But alas,
The store is closed
And I must yearn
Through the window.

Mac's Books

Coventry Neighborhood
Cleveland Heights, Ohio

Mac's Bookstore
Coventry Neighborhood
Chagrin Falls, Ohio

You walk in to Mac’s. If it is your first time, you might just stand there in awe. A first-time browser or a repeat browser, you will feel immediately at home. That unique smell of books, hundreds od them, draw you in. Three narrow floors jam-packed with books. It’s quite alright – in fact, encouraged – to find a spot on the floor and get lost in a book. Don’t worry about getting the way of the rest of us. We’ll more than likely be doing same shortly.

Mac's Bookstore Interior

This is Mac’s third location on Coventry Rd. The first location, 1982, was two rooms upstairs from the Dobama Theater. However, the story begins a few years earlier with Jim McSherry, a Kent State grad student. In 1978 McSherry purchased a used book store in Chagrin Falls. Shortly after he moved it to Kent while he pursued his studies, then back to Chagrin Falls, where it was located on an alley of of Main Street. In Kent, it was on the second floor of the building next to a used record store run by members of the Human Switchboard, a new wave band.

Following the Dobama location the store moved twice, ending up in it current location at 1820 Coventry Rd. From the beginning Mac’s was managed by Suzanne DeGaetano, who now co-owns the store with McSherry. A unique feature of the second location was a large cardboard display of Harvy Pekar’s American Splendor series.

Coventry is a closeknit eclectic walking community. Coventry Road, at the heart of the neighborhood, is an old- fashioned business neighborhood business street, with stores lining both sides of the street. It is near University Circle, home to artists, musicians and those still seeking to live a bohemian or alternative lifestyle. Undoubtedly, this has helped Mac’s Flourish. Nowadays though, people travel some distance to Mac’s to find that special book they’ve been wanting to read.

From almost the beginning, Mac’s has hosted poetry readings, starting with Daniel Thompson and Dennis McDonnell who needed a venue for a poetry reading series that they founded in 1984. The readings continued for years on the second Wednesday of each month. Poetry readings still happen, but they’re interspersed with other readings spread throughout the year.

Today Mac’s sponsors workshop, readings and book signings, discussions, book clubs and poetry readings at PEACEpark. DeGaetano goes out of her way to promote local writers. She and Mac’s have long collaborated with the nonprofit youth writing organization, Lake Erie Ink. When the kids create their zines and anthologies, the bookstore sells them. DeGaetano owns an extensive personal collection of zines.

Sept. 2, 2023

The Blue Heron

Peninsula, Ohio

The Blue Heron
Peninsula, Ohio
Out of Business

When we previously lived in North-East Ohio, we would often visit The Blue Heron Bookstore in Peninsula. When we returned in 2020, one of our first rides was down through the Cuyahoga Valley (Cuyahoga National Park) to Penisula and The Blue Heron. Sadly, it was out of business. The building now a gift shop for the park.

The Blue Heron opened May 1, 2004 and closed four or five years later. I have been told that as time passed the store sold less and less books, replacing the books with gift items. When it was opened, we loved the rear patio with its waterfall fountain. Grab a cup of coffee, which was always free, pull up a chair, relax and read.

When The Blue Heron was in business the bookstore catered to the tourist who was visiting the National Park and the quint Ohio & Erie canal town of Peninsula. The store featured books on nature, home, garden, photography, bird watching, health, and antiques. It has had a children's section, and the very popular "heron's nest," which hosted story-time for children. It also offered snacks, sandwiches and ice cream for sale.

Image Date: December 2004.

Rear Courtyard
The Blue Heron
Peninsula, Ohio
Out of Business

Back to Iconic Americana