'Confessions of an Indie Bookstore Clerk'

Our friend Karen Lillis has a memoir in progress titled, "Bagging The Beats At Midnight:
Confessions of an Indie Bookstore Clerk." Here's an excerpt via Undie Press.

"From age 27 (the age that rock stars die) to age 35 (the age that women stop stating their real age), I had the privilege of working at St Mark’s Bookshop in Manhattan’s East Village. During my short decade as a bookstore clerk, books were the stuff of my daily life: My friends were bookshop employees and bookstore hounds, and my friendships revolved around the books we recommended to each other, enthused about, lent out, insisted be read, threw across the room, and gave each other with heartfelt inscriptions. When I was in the red, I looked for ways to sell books on the side of my dayjob as a bookseller. My retirement account was a pile of stowed-away first editions which I hoped would increase in value. Days off were often spent at used bookstores. Weeks off were spent in the bookstores of other cities."

Keep reading here.

Bastille Day 1992 at Florent

In honor of Bastille Day, Karen Lillis has uploaded a set of black-and-white photos (like the one above) from a Bastille Day event at Florent from 1992.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Remembering Richard Leck: "He liked the anything-goes quality, the creativity and the street life"

"Richard knew how to look at something and then manage to pass it on"

The Praise Day for Richard Leck (pictured above in a photo from the 1960s) was held last Saturday at the Bowery Poetry Club. Unfortunately, I couldn't make it. However, his publisher, Karen Lillis, who organized the tribute, did a recap on her MySpace page.

Here's part of her review:

Bowery Poetry Club proprietor and poetry guru, Bob Holman wrapped up the afternoon for us with some words about Richard, followed by a reading of both poems and prose. "I didn't know Richard, but of course, we all know him now," Bob began. "The readings today have been exquisite because the writing is exquisite, because Richard knew how to look at something and then manage to pass it on."

Reminder: "Praise Day Reading for Richard Leck" tomorrow afternoon

Karen Lillis hosts a memorial reading for the late poet Richard Leck, at the Bowery Poetry Club tomorrow from 2 p.m.-3:30 p.m. It's called "Praise Day Reading for Richard Leck." Free admission. Several writers will read from Leck's poems and excerpts from his memoir, "Jumped, Fell, or Was Pushed." Ken Wohlrob has a list of the speakers.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Remembering Richard Leck: "He liked the anything-goes quality, the creativity and the street life"