Oak Park, Southfield

Local bookstore celebrates 30 unlikely years

By Jessica Strachan
C & G Staff Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by Deb Jacques Cary Loren and Colleen Kammer of Southfield celebrate 30 years as owners of their independent bookstore, Book Beat in Oak Park. Photo by Deb Jacques Cary Loren and Colleen Kammer of Southfield celebrate 30 years as owners of their independent bookstore, Book Beat in Oak Park. Photo by Deb Jacques Colleen Kammer poses with one of her favorite books about how a new child is another opportunity for a person to love and care for others. 0 Photo by Deb Jacques Colleen Kammer poses with one of her favorite books about how a new child is another opportunity for a person to love and care for others.

Before the Kindle and e-books, even before mass chain stores sold books, there was Book Beat, the 1,500-square-foot space on Greenfield Road that had two aisles of books.

Thirty years later, the local independent book store is still there, stronger — and larger — than ever, even after weathering two recessions and the trend of digital literature.

“I’m still baffled by all this. I think if I had started to think about all the things I was doing, I probably wouldn’t be successful. Maybe it’s just about following your instincts,” said Carey Loren, a Southfield resident of 25 years. He and his wife, Colleen Kammer, founded the bookstore in Oak Park in August of 1982, and now they are taking the time to celebrate with the community this month.

“We didn’t know how long it would last,” Loren remembers about the time they decided to open. Though Loren was studying the arts at Wayne State University, he had been managing bookstores around Southfield. He and his wife were avid book collectors who bonded over their love of reading.

That was enough reason for them to take a leap and open their own bookstore that would feature the kinds of books they both loved most: books on the arts for Loren and children’s books for Kammer. That year they cut expenses, moved in with Loren’s parents and weathered one tough economic climate.

“Before this recent (economic) meltdown, I always thought it was really hard when we opened,” Kammer said. “People kept referring to 1982 as another meltdown, and we were so busy opening our store we weren’t even paying attention to the economy. We didn’t realize it was technically a recession, but in retrospect, wow, that’s why it was so hard!”

Loren and Kammer say it was their love of books that kept them surviving and thriving at what they were doing.

“We were both big readers, and it was just our chance to connect people with what we knew and help people get what they need from books, too,” Kammer said.

They were eventually able to expand the store when the neighboring space went vacant, doubling their size and adding an art gallery, as well as a specialty children’s collection.

“I love children’s books,” Kammer said. “I guess I just never stopped reading them. I read adult literature, too, but even through my adult years I’d buy kids’ books. I just find the illustrations beautiful.”

Just this year at a book expo in New York, Book Beat was recognized by the National Women’s Book Association and awarded the Pannell Prize for its specialty in children’s books. Kammer said it was a special moment for that to happen during their 30th year.

When it comes to their success story, Loren said he credits his wife for making sure Book Beat could serve the community for the last three decades.

“She puts so much work into it, the care and the customer service. She really serves the market, parents and educators. That’s a big part of our success. Without her, I believe we would have been closed a long time ago,” he said.

Kammer said the work owning Book Beat never ends, and they continue to put everything they have back into the store.

“To make those connections with customers and to know the merchandise to always be able to suggest a book, that’s important,” she said.

All that work pays off, too, with customers like Doug and Elaine Harris of Southfield. Several times each week, since 1982, they have paid a visit.

“They are experts, they really are,” Doug said. “Now we are just part of the family.”

The Harrises live just a couple blocks from Book Beat and said shopping at an independent bookstore is important for them. Elaine, now 75, worked as a teacher in the area and also has a nationally recognized collection of 1,300 children’s cookbooks that Book Beat has helped her obtain.

Doug, 83, said the store has been an important part of their lives.

“It’s the best book store I’ve ever been to in my life,” he said. “It’s not new and modern and in mint condition, but that’s what makes it special. It’s just a place all about books.”

For Kammer, that’s the best compliment they could receive, because each day they appreciate the fact that out of all the independent bookstores that weren’t able to survive the times, they have.

“We’ve seen so many (independent bookstores) come and go. I always tell people, we’re so lucky we get to do this. Even in this time period, we get to sell books.”
 

The Book Beat will usher in its 30th anniversary with a community celebration noon-5 p.m. Aug. 19.

Guest authors and artists will be on hand, and there will be live music, refreshments, prizes, a Mexican taco truck and an outdoor tent. The party is free and open to the public. Book Beat is located at 26010 Greenfield, in Oak Park. For more information, call (284) 968-1190.

Here, the Book Beat owners share the best books they’ve come across in their 30 years in the business.

Colleen Kammer’s picks:

• “Peace Pilgrim: Her Life and Work in Her Own Words”—An American woman who walked 25,000 miles for peace (adult).

• “Because of You” — “We’re here in the world to receive and to share and to make the world a better place,” Kammer said of this children’s book.

• “OZ” series by Frank L. Baum — A 14-book series about the Land of Oz, which Kammer calls “magical books about the meaning and enjoyment of friendship, and beautifully illustrated by John R. Neill.”

• “The Once and Future King,” by T. H. White — A modern re-telling of the Arthurian legend.

• “Fahrenheit 451” — Ray Bradbury’s cautionary tale about a world without books. “Are we nearing that place?” Kammer asks.

Cary Loren’s picks:

• “Neuromancer” — the award-winning sci-fi adventure by William Gibson that invented virtual reality and the cyber-punk genre.

• “The Master and Margarita” — Loren said this is a “smart and very funny Russian novel written in the ‘30s and ‘40s that inspired magical realism in South America and the Rolling Stone’s album, ‘Beggar’s Banquet’ in the late 1960s.”

• “Hunger” — An existential and cosmic probe into irrationality, symbolism and humor by the Norwegian Nobel laureate Knut Hamsun, who wrote a slimmer yet strong alternative to Joyce’s Ulysses.
• “Illuminations” — Loren recommends this one as a powerful collection of philosophical essays by Walter Benjamin, that is concerned with mankind’s relationship with art and humanity. “The writing is noted for its deep complexity and beauty and is written by one of the most critical and engaging minds of the twentieth century,” he added.

• “Against Interpretation” — Susan Sontag’s first book, which collects her early writings on contemporary art and culture. “She was one of the best writers of ideas and thinking to ever evolve from America,” Loren said.
 

You can reach C & G Staff Writer Jessica Strachan at jstrachan@candgnews.com or at (586)279-1108.