Joe Gable, longtime manager of the first Borders Book Shop, died November 2. He was 81. He joined the small independent bookstore in Ann Arbor, Mich., three years after its 1971 founding by Tom and Louis Borders, and led the growth and transformation of the store into a book "superstore" long before that word would be applied to bookselling chains--such as Borders by the late 1980s.
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| Joe Gable | |
Gable was "fiercely protective of the quality of the store's vast inventory of more than 100,000 individual titles," and also "intent on hiring knowledgeable booksellers--Borders employees famously had to pass a rigorous test of book titles and authors," his obituary noted.
Longtime Borders bookseller and trainer Benita Kaimowitz recalled that during the pre-Internet era, "there was a spot near the front of the store where I could stand and say out loud almost any Google-y type question, and somebody within earshot would know the answer."
Gable managed "Store #01" for 22 years. During his first decade in the position, Borders gained a national reputation for inventory and customer service that served as the basis for the Borders brothers' expansion, which ultimately led to the publicly-traded company Borders Group, Inc.
But Gable's goal was, and remained, different. He told the Ann Arbor Observer in 1986 that his "biggest desire is to make this the best bookstore in the United States."
"Joe may not have been a mythical polymath, but his much-imitated manner and speech, as well as his hands-on oversight of all aspects of Borders' operations, were memorable," according to his obituary. "Speaking low in a manner reminiscent of a young Marlon Brando, and (in the early days) enjoying his pipe even in the store, Joe became the focus of anecdotes, imitations, and of course, both admiration and grumbling."
Despite his hard-boiled manner, he was often a soft touch with employees, firing very few people over his Borders career and quick to give second and third chances.
Gable was born in Reading, Pa. Although he wasn't a big reader in high school, at Albright College he was inspired by his literature teacher, David Noll. Transferring to University of Wisconsin-Madison, he eventually received an M.A. in European history and completed his Ph.D. coursework.
During his studies, Gable worked at Paul's Books and later brought features of that shop, including its section organization, to Borders. In 1974, he moved to Ann Arbor, and wandered into Borders' old location. He had a stand-up job interview with Tom Borders, who asked him, "What do you know about books?" Gable replied: "I know more about books than anyone in this store." He was hired.
"In his later years with Borders, Joe was both an occasionally hopeful promoter of Borders' growth, and an opinionated and acerbic critic of the many mistakes made along the way," his obituary noted. "He gave frequent--and alas, often unfollowed--advice to 'the grocery boys,' as he termed the executives brought in to grow and run the company." He later observed, "The problem with the new guys is they tried to take the book business, which is complex and boring, and make it simple and sexy."
In 1996, he moved from store #01 to Borders headquarters as a senior project manager working on store design projects, hoping to preserve some aspects of Borders' bookish integrity. He left the company in 2008 as it neared its end.
"He was as good a reader as he was a bookseller, and his omnivorous interests... occupied him in retirement," his obituary noted, adding that Gable "kept on through book after book until very recently. A passionate non-traveler, Joe most enjoyed the view from his living room chair to the page open in front of him."
A memorial gathering will be held on Saturday, December 5, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Nie Family Funeral Home in Ann Arbor. Donations in his memory may be made to the Humane Society of Huron Valley.