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| Ann Combs | |
Ann Combs, longtime bookseller at Eagle Harbor Book Co., Bainbridge Island, Wash., died October 15. She was 84. Combs, who retired less than a week earlier, had worked at the store for more than two decades.
"Our Ann has gone and we are bereft," said owner Jane Danielson. "No longer will we be regaled by her clever jokes, limericks, and show tunes for every occasion. She found the humor in every situation, and her lively stories were endlessly entertaining. Ann was an iconic and irreplaceable presence in the bookstore. Everyone who knew her was better for it, and we will miss her dearly."
In a statement announcing Combs's death, EHBC bookseller Victoria Irwin observed: "Ann epitomized the heart and soul of the store, and many customers would come in just to talk to her. She usually made sure they left with a book. Ann was also known to order books for customers that she thought they'd like, and then call them to come 'pick up your book!' Her picks were always on target."
Combs raised six kids, but also had time to be a newspaper columnist and write four books (a children's title and three memoirs). Her most popular book, Helter Shelter, was reissued as Once Upon a Two by Four in 2012, and remains a brisk seller at EHBC to this day, Irwin added. Her staff recommendations--the latest being Lake Of the Ozarks by Bill Geist--"always led to strong sales for authors."