Past Updates
"Too bad about Tatnuck"
I read that in one email. And then in another.
I am in the woods of Maine at the time. Online via an aging computer that's trying in vain to catch a strong enough signal to allow me to write and find out what the heck these correspondents are talking about.
By the time I get the news, it's after the fact. Worcester's Tatnuck Bookseller has closed.
It's a shame all around. Seventy employees laid off, a community without this landmark 30-year-old family-owned independent. That family, the Abramoffs, - Larry and Gloria - have been fantastic to me since we met in 1994, when my first novel was published. They energetically talked up each title to masses, displayed stacks and stacks, hosted packed readings and signings upon the release of each. I always felt fussed over and welcome there, even if just stopping in to browse or get a bowl of chili. I'm very sad about the closing, a decision Larry says had lots to do with competition from the big chains.
Yes, the Abramoffs still have one store left - a smaller one-year- old shop in Westborough, 15 miles away. So they're not out of the business. But they're out of Worcester. And that's a shame. I wrote this in "Shelf Life" and I'll say it again here: if you like the idea of having small businesses in your community, then patronize them. Or they'll be gone.
It is too bad about Tatnuck. Vote with your dollar and don't let it be "too bad" for your favorite neighborhood shop, whatever it sells.
With thanks and love to the Abramoffs,
Suzanne