Wet Books Break Our Hearts - Help Richard Smart
Donation protected
Greetings, members of the trade and supporters of the bookselling community, after this longest night of the year.
In early November fine bindery and antiquarian bookshop, Old English Bindery and E.C. Rare Books were flooded. The water from the cafe upstairs destroyed and damaged tens of thousands of dollars of books and manuscripts including a manuscript of Jonathan Swift’s earliest erotica and Milton Friedman’s union card (okay, I jest about the Swift and Friedman, but hopefully now have your attention).
Two weeks later Richard Smart suffered a heart attack and was hospitalized for 4 days. The flood, clean-up, insurance companies, etc. might have had something to do with the heart attack.
The various insurance companies will eventually pay something. In the meantime, Richard hasn’t worked in almost two months and is in a tight spot.
This appeal is not Richard’s idea. But he is aware of it.
Some of you I have met, most of you I have not. I am Mariah Barrett, generalist bookseller at Pelican Bay Books in Anacortes, Washington where I work alongside my brother, his wife, and an incredible staff. I had the good fortune of attending The Colorado Antiquarian Book Seminar (CABS) at St. Olaf College this past summer.
I am reaching out to this community on behalf of another bookseller, one not associated with CABS though he is a member of the ABA, ILAB, and ABAC. My brother Eli and I headed down to the Seattle Antiquarian Book Fair in October and had a heck of a good time. We sold books, bought books, and visited with friends both old and new. Richard Smart of Old English Bindery and E. C. Rare Books in Vancouver, British Columbia was one of those new friends. Some of you know him, many of you do not. For all of you fore-edge lovers out there, they are one of his specializations. Links to websites and biographical information to be included at the end of this letter. And please forgive my verbosity as I tell you a story and the reason why I am reaching out in request of help for a friend.
On Saturday, November 6th, Richard sent me a message saying that his bindery/shop had suffered flooding from an overnight pipe leak from the coffee shop upstairs. Though that Saturday there were people around to help him begin the process of drying out books, he currently has no employees or any other “book person” to help him with the necessary documentation of loss. And the loss is heartbreaking, truly. Not everything was touched by water, but enough was to be overwhelming and to cause quite the panic. Not one to sit idle when another is in need and I might be useful, I found myself driving up to Vancouver on Sunday morning to help. I spent that afternoon and most of Monday helping to create lists of books damaged, organizing thoughts, and focusing a to-do list.
To make matters worse, on the morning of November 22nd, the day the storage company was to finish moving everything out of the shop so the work of replacing the floors and part of the ceiling could get started, Richard suffered a heart attack. He spent four days in the hospital.
Richard has insurance, but they have been agonizingly unresponsive. The coffee shop and the building owner have insurance also, but neither believes they should share in the responsibility of helping to cover loss. My guess is that the three insurance companies will be spending a bit of time duking it out. Richard has received some funds from the ABA and the ABAC, with gratitude and thanks, but not being able to do binding and restoration work, or sell books as they are all in storage, plus the addition of needing to recover from a heart attack, he is now in a sticky financial situation as he waits for an unknowable amount of time for insurance to provide even a touch of relief. He has also had to cancel his booth at the California International Antiquarian Book Fair in February, another financial loss.
When I spoke to Richard last week I asked if he would feel uncomfortable were we to set up a GoFundMe for him. Yes. But there is a need. We discussed a financial goal, which is US $15K. He wondered what could be done if the financial goal was met and there were excess funds. I suggested setting up a CABS scholarship. And so it is. That’s the plan.
If any of you are able, please consider giving just a bit. If you are more able, please consider giving more. Through the hardships of the past month-and-a-half, Richard has managed to keep his sense of humor and to be helpful to others around him. He needs a bit of the bookselling community to lend a hand. Feel free to spread the word far and wide.
For more information about his business and his work, please see the links below.
With heartfelt appreciation for your consideration,
Mariah
Pelican Bay Books
520 Commercial Ave
Anacortes WA 98221
360-293-1852
Organizer and beneficiary
Mariah Erken
Organizer
Vancouver, BC
Richard Smart
Beneficiary
