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| Tom Gerard | |
Tom Gerard, whose 40-year career in bookselling includes the past 15 years at the Book Loft, Solvang, Calif., is retiring. The Santa Ynez Valley Star reported that Gerard "has become a fixture at the Book Loft and in the community, due not only to his extensive knowledge about books, writers, publishing and bookstores but also because of his friendly southern charm and storytelling skills."
"I've been in the bookselling world my whole adult life," he said.
While attending Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., he worked at the college bookstore. After earning his degree and teaching for four years, he decided in 1974 to pursue a different direction. "I became enamored with the idea of opening a bookstore with a couple of partners in Natchez, Miss., which we called Page One," he said. "Unfortunately, that store closed after only two years."
He moved to Jackson in 1978 to work with a friend at Lemuria Books, "which continues to be one of Mississippi's finest independent bookstores. I worked there for 15 years. It was great because my friend and I could talk book business together." At 43, he relocated to Eugene and worked at the University of Oregon's bookstore for about eight years, then learned about an opening at the Book Loft. "I met with Ed Gregory, the manager, and Kathy Mullins, the owner, and they hired me, so I moved to Lompoc."
Gerard said he has been "fortunate to work in some really great bookstores during the past 40 years and it has been a delight working at the Book Loft. It's a unique book environment, in that it has new books and is also a used bookstore plus a museum dedicated to one of the icons of literature. It's been an education for me to be exposed to people from all over the world who know and love Hans Christian Andersen. I also feel like I'm leaving the store in good hands, under the leadership of Echo Molina, the manager, and my fellow booksellers."