Rescuing Ruminator Books

[pegkerr]

John Rezmerski, Minnesota poet, sent me the following by e-mail. I intend to respond to this call for help. We NEED independent bookstores, and Ruminator Books (formerly The Hungry Mind) is a good one.

John says: "I got the following appeal in a couple of emails (I've conflated them, for convenience) from Anne Ursu a couple of days ago, and decided to support the cause. So besides sending a contribution, I thought I should spread the word to various groups of writing friends, hoping that some of you might be able to help, too."

__________________________________
I am sorry to write out of the blue like this. I hope this e-mail is not unwelcome.

I'm writing because I'm very disturbed by the potential loss of Ruminator Books to the community. I know the store is in a very tough spot, and I don't want to let it go down without doing SOMETHING. I'm a Minnesotan and a novelist, and I’ve been writing local authors asking if they would be interested in signing a letter supporting the store, etc. The project has blossomed and become an open letter in the Star Tribune (and possibly the Pioneer Press if I recruit enough authors) that will run in the next few weeks with at least 50 signatures from novelists, poets, children's books writers, memoirists.... Each author is contributing $30 to the cause, and I will send out the letter for everyone’s approval once I’ve written it. Would you be interested in signing/contributing?

Also, if you know other Minnesota authors who might be interested in contributing to the cause, would you mind passing on their e-mail addresses? I would be so grateful.
__________________________________________________

Thank you, again, for your wonderful support for this project. The people at Ruminator really do think this can make a difference.

Below (and attached) is the open letter that I propose to publish as an ad in the Star Tribune AND the Pioneer Press. Someone at Ruminator Books will take care of the layout (and include contact information). The list of names is still growing, and I am not going to schedule the ads until the support ebbs out. (I’ll let you know when the dates are in)
The people at Ruminator also plan to post the letter around the community and use it in their own efforts.

1) I’ve run the letter by a few people for language and content already. (If you thought asking for money from distinguished MN authors was intimidating, try drafting a letter for their signature.) Please read over the letter and let me know if there is any content that would make you want to take off your name. The language may change slightly, but I will not send the thing out again barring additional controversial content (like we all pledge a limb to the cause or declare chain stores part of the axis of evil) unless I hear from you that you’d like to see any changes.

2) Please check over the list of names and make sure I have your professional name listed and spelled right. I may mean well, but I’m a bit of a spaz. Please let me know of errors/objections by Monday at noon. (There’s a possibility we’ll run this Thursday in the Strib. The next option in the Strib would be Xmas, the next New Years’ Day.)

3) I’m asking each writer to chip in $30. (Someone has ingeniously pointed out that this can be written off as a business expense. Damn skippy.) This money has allowed us to take out a large ad in the Strib and, so far, a 1/4 page ad in the PiPress, though that may get bigger as more people write me. (Unfortunately, we have to be selective about “zones” and that means the Strib ad will go to Mpls proper and St Paul and all its suburbs, and the PiPress just to St. Paul. This is a money issue. I feel it’s crucial for the ad to be a certain size to be noticeable.) A few writers have told me they would like to participate but do not have the money to give. If anyone would like to give a little more to compensate (I will), that allows everyone who wants to to sign. Any extra money, I will donate to the store (or buy myself a spa treatment at the new place in Uptown)

I’ll be writing the checks for the ads out of my pocket, so please send your checks to me:

anneursu@yahoo.com
Anne Ursu
214 Van Buren Ave N.
Hopkins, MN 55343

I still feel the list of names is incomplete. There are people I have written but not heard from yet, there are those I couldn’t find contact information, and I’m sure there are people I’ve forgotten to ask due to being brain-addled. Let me know if you see absences and we can work on contact info. And as I said, I get more e-mails every day from people wanting to join.

Write me with questions. This process has become rather complicated, and I greatly fear leaving someone off who wanted to be on, or vice versa. Any errors are wholly unintentional. (See above)

anneursu@yahoo.com
_______________________________________

FROM MINNESOTA AUTHORS

To Twin Cities Readers and Book-Lovers:

Ruminator Books is in danger of closing . Without significant local support, this nationally-known independent bookstore will shut its doors forever on January 31.

Ruminator Books has been serving the Twin Cities for over thirty years. Over time, Ruminator (formerly the Hungry Mind) has evolved into one of the most respected bookstores in the country. Ruminator hosts a distinguished and active reading series that brings pre-eminent writers into our community, and is responsible for making the Twin Cities a stop on the national tour circuit. It has nurtured and celebrated the careers of area authors. It has helped a community of readers thrive through their booksellers’ passion and dedication to placing good books in eager hands. Ruminator Books has helped make the literary arts community in the Twin Cities what it is today. Its loss would be a blow to the heart of that community.

Ruminator is dramatically reorganizing to keep itself sustainable in the future. But it needs our help. We—Minnesota novelists, poets, children’s book writers and illustrators, journalists, and essayists—have come together to ask you to help keep Ruminator Books alive. The bookstore is becoming a community-owned business, and is looking for individuals to buy shares; call the store to learn how.
There are other ways to help; shop at Ruminator, in the store or online. Buy gift-certificates. Subscribe to the Ruminator Review. Visit the store or call and ask how you can help. And tell your friends. Ruminator can be saved. We can do it.


Sincerely,

Charles Baxter
Sandra Benitez
Robert Bly
Michael Dennis Browne
Stephen Burt
John Caddy
Sharon Chmielarz
Mick Cochrane
John Coy
Cass Dalgliesh
Kate DiCamillo
Heid Erdrich
Pamela Fletcher
Jeff Forester
Patricia Weaver Francisco
Debra Frasier
Greta Gaard
Diane Glancy
Judith Guest
Warren Hansen
Jean Harfenist
Ellen Hart
Ellen Hawley
David Haynes
Max Haynes
Bill Holm
Marya Hornbacher
LeAnne Howe
Wing Young Huie
Neil Karlen
Patricia Kirkpatrick
Jim Klobuchar
William Kent Krueger
Kathryn Kysar
Lori L. Lake
Julie Landsman
Lorna Landvik
Jim Lenfestey
Susan Lenfestey
James Lileks
Alison McGhee
Linda Back McKay
Brian Malloy
Anna George Meek
Leslie Miller
Bradley Moe
Marian Moore
David Mura
Linda Newell
Jim Northrup
Kate Pehrson
Wang Ping
William Reichard
John Rezmerski
Linda Lightsey Rice
Mary Rockcastle
Phyllis Root
Bart Schneider
Julie Schumacher
Mary Sharratt
Howard Sinker
Madelon Sprengnether
Faith Sullivan
Ida Swearington
Susan Allen Toth
Jane Jeong Trenka
Joel Turnipseed
Anne Ursu
Dex Westrum
Jack Zipes

Comments

*distressed*

[shusu.livejournal.com]

Oh no, the Hungry Moo!! Do the Macalester students and alumni know about this? If any group of people know grassroots, it's them. I'll go check their website. Thank you for forwarding this.