Save Your Local Bookstore

WCBN – CLOSETS ARE FOR CLOTHES – SAVE YOUR BOOKSTORE – 2009-10-07

SUMMARY:

Bookstores that specialize in literature for lesbian, gay, transgender and bisexual, people are closing at a high rate. Why? Are closings due to new technologies, the economy, lack of readers? Keith Orr, owner of Common Language Bookstore in Ann Arbor, Michigan speaks with authors Christopher Rice and Greg Herren.

PRODUCTION NOTES:

In 2005, Beyond The Closet – Seattle’s only gay/lesbian bookstore closed after almost 20 years of business. In Dallas, 2007, Crossroads – closed after 27 years in business. Baltimore – Lambda Rising closed in 2008. West Hollywood, A Different Light, closed March 2009 after 30 years in business. And the nation’s oldest and first gay bookstore – Oscar Wilde Bookstore in New York City – 41 years in business – closed – also in March of 2009. (Photo: Common Language Bookstore, Ann Arbor)

The Common Language Bookstore closed permanently in 2021. (Photo: Keith Orr)

Rice wrote four New York Times best-selling novels: Blind Fall, A Density of Souls, The Snow Garden, and Light Before Day. He has served as President of the Board for the Lambda Literary Foundation, the nation’s leading organization for the advancement of Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender writers. (Photo: Christopher Rice, Author)

Herren is based in New Orleans. He was editor of Lambda Book Report for over a year, book reviewer for Southern Voice for four years, and has written for publications as varied as Genre, Gay and Lesbian Review, Gulf Coast Arts Review, Where New Orleans, Fitness Plus and LA Frontiers. He is the author of six books–all gay mysteries set in New Orleans – one of them, Murder in the rue Chartres, won the Lambda Literary Award for Best Men’s Mystery. (Photo: Greg Herren, Author)

Listen as the authors describe the book writing and selling industry, recall book tours, and explain business relationships with booksellers.

ORIGINAL BROADCAST:

2009-10-07

PARTICIPANTS:

David Christopher Meitzler (Producer/Host)
Keith Orr, Common Language Bookstore (Co-Host)
Christopher Rice, Author
Greg Herren, Author

RECORDED AT:

WCBN Studio, Ann Arbor MI USA

LINKS OF INTEREST:

Common Language Bookstore, Ann Arbor, Michigan: http://glbtbooks.com
Lambda Literary Foundation: http://www.lambdaliterary.org/

Christopher Rice Books: http://www.christopherricebooks.com/
Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Rice

Greg Herren: http://www.myspace.com/gregherren

SUPPORT YOUR LOCALLY OWNED BOOKSTORE – buy your books there, visit with a friend, enjoy the personal relationship.  Make books and reading a regular part of your day.

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