Confessions of a Curious Bookseller(39)
Here I am going on. I just wanted to say hullo and keep you updated on the romantic whirlwind that is my life!
How did you like Turks and Caicos? What I wouldn’t give to lie on a sandy beach right now, but alas, I promised Pierre I would help him with the horses this week. Perhaps the week after . . .
Much love,
Fawn Windsor
From: Gregory Harris
Sent: Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 1:12 AM
To: Fawn Windsor
Re: Winter romance
Hello there, my dear,
What a romantic tumult you’ve found yourself in! I have to say I’m a bit envious—most of my blind dates don’t end up so exciting. I think my nearest brush with a celebrity was briefly dating some baseball player’s personal assistant. I have no idea who the baseball player was because sports are terribly boring to me. But to each his own, I suppose. My date went on incessantly about the baseball player, and it was clear by my second martini that they would have rather been dating their boss than sitting there with me. Oh well.
Where was I? It’s late, and I’m exhausted from a hard day of real estate work, so I thought I’d send off a quick reply before crashing.
Fawn, my dear, Turks and Caicos was DIVINE. It’s too much to write about. Perhaps more later.
Gregory
From: Fawn Birchill
Sent: Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 10:16 AM
To: Staff
Subject: Mark Twain Estate Guests
Dear Staff,
We have received some phone calls inquiring about the event this February and have sold a few tickets, but numbers are still not as impressive as I had hoped. Please mention the event to customers as they come in. They may buy tickets in-store. Feel free to give them a complimentary cup of coffee when they buy a ticket.
Fawn, Owner
From: Mark Nilsen
Sent: Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 11:09 AM
To: Fawn Birchill
Subject: Gala Event Invitation
Hi Fawn,
I hope you received the official gala invitation. If your plans fall through, you are always welcome to stop in.
I couldn’t help but notice that the sign in your window has been taken down. Your employee Kyle said it would be fine to put it up, especially since it is to benefit youth centers and not the Grumpy Mug whatsoever. Since it has been taken down, could I get it back?
Thank you,
Mark
P.S. We managed to get the mayor to come to our event! Might be cool to meet him. :)
From: Fawn Birchill
Sent: Mon, Jan 14, 2019 at 11:45 AM
To: Mark Nilsen
Re: Gala Event Invitation
Dear Mark,
I appreciate the invite; however, as I stated before, I simply cannot make it. Because you have literally no history in the Philadelphia business scene, I am surprised that you managed to get the mayor to attend your gala. I am not sure if you are trying to impress me or intimidate me, but please know that I am not easily intimidated nor am I impressed.
Fawn, Owner, The Curious Cat Book Emporium (a The Adventures of Tom Sawyer specialist store)
P.S. I appreciate you coming forward and admitting that you put your gala poster up in my doorway, and that you got permission from Kyle to do so. I have spoken to Kyle and told him that we unfortunately cannot support our immediate competition, and so the poster was taken down. I’m sorry, but I recycled it (I hope posters are recyclable!) and cannot return it to you.
From: Fawn Birchill
Sent: Tue, Jan 15, 2019 at 6:09 PM
To: Angela Washington
Subject: Philly Love Finder (CONFIDENTIAL)
Dear Angela,
Is there somewhere on this service where I can write a bad review of an individual so as to warn the other potential dates? I am beginning to remember why I swore off the dating scene in the eighties. The world hasn’t improved much in that regard.
Fawn, Owner
THE CURIOUS CAT BOOK EMPORIUM
Blog Post #1
An Interview with the Proprietor
June Marchland is a journalist who has worked with the New York Times covering the Syrian conflict as well as the war in Afghanistan. June began her journalistic work at Harvard, where she founded their quarterly women’s newsletter. She currently holds a PhD in philosophy and journalism studies and is extremely exclusive about whom she chooses to interview. The Curious Cat Book Emporium is honored and humbled to have her here with us today.
JM: What was your inspiration for such a store?
FB: When I was a child, my father owned a general store in our hometown of Norristown. He worked tirelessly day and night, with my sister and me assisting him. My sister often remained in the back working on the books while I was in charge of all up-front matters, no doubt due to my positive and customer-oriented personality. Often businessmen would come in on their way into the city and flirt with me, but never with my poor sister, who was stuck in the back room and I believe grew to resent me for it. My inspiration came as I watched all the mistakes Father made. He would not treat us well and paid us only enough to get a school lunch that day. My grades slipped because I was always so tired from getting up early, and I would often fall asleep in class. This spawned my dream of opening my own store and doing it right. Treating people right, rewarding customers (but not too much)—not to the detriment of my business—and always being deeply rooted in the community.
JM: Do you feel rooted in your community?
FB: I do. I am always looking for ways to get the local businesses to work with me on what would be mutually beneficial opportunities. Not all have taken to it. I believe the times we live in have forced people—even hippies that run co-ops—to be rather paranoid, but some have proven me wrong. The owner of O’Hare Repair is an example of an excellent businessman, rooted in his community. I daresay I have also inspired local fellow bookstore owners to become more involved in grassroots community efforts. If you watch closely, you may see a pattern where I come up with a great idea, and shortly thereafter they duplicate it but vary it enough to make it their own. An insecure person would take this as an affront and perhaps even accuse them of being completely unimaginative and desperate, whereas I see it as a healthy and welcome exchange of ideas.