Obituary Note: Laurie Hardman

Laurie Hardman

British bookseller Laurie Hardman, the longtime owner of Broadhursts Bookshop in Southport whose "love of books and reading saw him become the figurehead at the shop for an incredible 55 years, well known by generations of local book lovers," died in May, Stand Up for Southport reported. 

In a social media post announcing his death, Broadhursts wrote, in part: "As a bookseller Laurie touched the lives of book-lovers in Southport & far beyond, having started working here in 1969 (probably never imagining that he would come to own the bookshop!).... For us booksellers, he was a boss who was always entertaining, often generous, & taught us so much about the world of bookselling. He was a man who loved books to his very core, & both recognized & valued that in others (even when you loved books or authors he disliked!)

"Broadhursts will never be quite the same without Laurie, & we will miss him very much. But we will continue on his literary legacy in the bookshop as best we can--there may be new faces sitting in his chair, but the bookselling spirit he taught us will go on. RIP Laurie."

In a 2022 interview with the Liverpool Echo, Hardman spoke about the bookshop's character, noting: "It's a unique experience coming into the place. It's not just any old bookshop, and that is increasingly what people are looking for. You can't go anywhere else and find a shop like this.

"We have customers who came in as children by their parents and they have brought their children in and they have brought their children in so we get generations coming in who remember the building. So we have a continuity that customers enjoy. A place like this must build up over time but it has to grow organically.... The world changes very quickly these days. Ferris Bueller said 'life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.' "

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