Noting that several county clerks in the area have stopped
performing marriages--apparently for financial reasons rather than
because of the California Supreme Court's ruling last month that legalized gay
marriage--Heather Lyon, owner, manager and buyer of Lyon Books and Learning Center,
Chico, Calif., said in her store's newsletter that she, a recently
"ordained minister of the Universal Life Church and, for good measure,
the Church of Spiritual Humanism," will happily perform non-religious
marriages in the store.
"While for some, a church is the best
choice of a wedding site; I hope others will appreciate that special
book store ambience," she wrote. "For me, being surrounded by the
wisdom of the ages, new ideas, and the smell of books fills me with
optimism and hope for the future. And a wedding is an act of optimism,
a leap of faith, a commitment to a partner and the future."
Lyon
wrote that the newsletter evoked more responses than any other newsletter she's written. There were 17 messages in the first few hours,
"all positive, no negative."
She asked if Shelf Awareness thought other booksellers might want to learn about her offer and "share the faith." The answer: "I do."