poetry, slam

news:

Grolier Bookstore, which has been around for 51 years, was for many years the only bookstore in America devoted solely to poetry. Oy, hard not to get depressed reading the announcement:

"As many of you know, the lease of the Grolier Poetry Book Shop, Inc. ends on March 31st. Harvard Real Estate offered me a very generous subsidy on the rent and a two-year lease with an option to renew. Unfortunately, the amount was beyond my means. HRE suggested that I sell the lease when I found a buyer. The buyer has been found, accepted the terms, and is now the owner. As he is out of town at the moment, I have agreed to maintain the shop until whatever date in March is decided upon.

... I finally realize that my stewardship of the Grolier had come to a natural end. After fifty-one years of involvement (my ownership being thirty-one), I have relinquished it."