This Saturday, the Raven Book Store, Lawrence, Kans., will host an open house to commemorate co-founder Pat Kehde's last official day at the shop, where she has worked part-time since selling the business to Heidi Raak in 2008. "We're all going to miss her wit and humor so much, but most of all, we'll miss her vast knowledge of books and bookselling," the Raven's website noted. "Don't worry though, she'll still be leading her Third Tuesday mystery book club and won't be a stranger in the store."
After nearly 28 years, the bookstore "is still going strong," the Lawrence Journal-World reported. "Defying expectations--lasting longer than the estimated five-year lifespan, surviving and ultimately triumphing over the big-box rival, maintaining a fiercely loyal clientele in the age of Amazon and ebooks--has been Kehde's modus operandi for a long time now. It's also her proudest achievement of a career that will end, officially this time, by the end of this month."
Kehde had planned to retire when she and co-founder Mary Lou Wright sold the store, but remained initially to help with the transition and then just continued to work part-time. "I told Heidi when she first bought the store, 'Heidi, I love to come to work every day.' And I think that's very true," said Kehde. "When you own your own small business, you do everything from cleaning the toilet to cleaning the cat box to ordering the books to talking to New York publishers. You can't imagine how much work it is, but it's a lot of fun, too.... I think that if you enjoy it, then other people probably enjoy it, too."