Solidarity Is Their Tool for Salvation

By LYNELL GEORGE

Jan. 18, 1996 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

Sitting in the dark room, they begin to imagine.

The poet leads them, a low podium in front of him, a lifeless microphone next to it.

Never mind the inconvenience. Richard Beban’s words emerge--unhindered, potent, weighted like prophecy: “Li Po folded his poems into paper boats . . . “ Beban’s voice arcs, his eyes rest on the faces who stare, not into his eyes, but into images, into meaning: “[He] set them out upon the river, uncertain, they, he or the world would survive. . . .”

The poet’s worry is the community worry--easily a metaphor for something larger. The fate of the poet, more precisely the independent voice, is tied inexorably to the fate of the independent bookstore. And thus the fire under this reading series: Independent Voices and Independent Bookstores, and its accompanying publication, “Foreshock: An Anthology of Poems from the Midnight Special.”

The fate of those quaint independents--with Bach preludes filtering out of the cassette player or kittens lolling in the sun--has been threatened by an irrevocable evolution.

“Do you think Borders is going to sell your work on consignment?” asks Beyond Baroque director Tosh Berman, welcoming the audience of 40-odd poets and friends. His inquisitive eyes narrow behind his horn-rims. The assembly lets out a world-weary chuckle.

The answer is understood. Competition evolves, first as thriving mall chain stores of the ‘70s and ‘80s; then by the ‘90s incarnation, superstores bursting out of their seams like some weird corporate version of the Incredible Hulk.

The metamorphosis has been quick and relentless. And comparatively pint-sized indies have learned the hard way: Shaking a fist or raising one’s voice until raw isn’t quite enough.

Weary of eulogies, even people of letters admit there just aren’t enough words sometimes. And walking through the rubble, counting the bones, isn’t going to save the independents either.

“We shouldn’t tolerate the loss of one more independent bookstore,” says Olin Tezcatlipoca, one of 34 writers and co-editor (along with Beban and Jeanette Clough) of “Foreshock.”

In the tradition of independents before hers, Midnight Special owner Margie Ghiz figures she won’t let her store, which is now sandwiched between a Barnes and Noble and a Borders, go down without a fight--of the wits, not fists.

“Foreshock” is the result of collective thought and effort, linking 14 Southland bookstores in hopes of not only raising their profiles, but redefining and broadening the definition of independent bookselling.

The chapbook-sized publication features the varied fruit of their efforts--poets of varying inclinations, interests, passions or preoccupations nurtured in the environment of an intensive workshop at Santa Monica’s Midnight Special. It’s something that only an independent bookstore would provide.

“The project just grew out of the store. Just like the workshops, the open reading series, the Saturday night poetry slams,” Ghiz says. “I thought, well personally I’m not a poetry lover, but . . . it’s like fighting for the right thing to do. That for me is a political thing. I figured, well you’ve got this cultural center. Then you have to publish. When they put the book together, I figured I was going to have a little party. But then I decided to call up the other bookstores and do the reading.”

Tezcatlipoca didn’t feel comfortable sitting by, watching the doors close. He’s seen the danger of limits and borders--especially at the point where curiosity intersects resources.

“By not carrying certain authors, certain titles,” he says, “you’re limiting thought, by limiting choices. And then the major casualty is freedom.”

If all the independents die, he maintains, “we would have zero access to information that wasn’t mainstream. Sadly, even our libraries are restricted.”

As the title suggests, the 14 stores and the people who run and patronize them hope that this is the first shudder. They hope something much larger, much stronger, brews just around the corner: a strong network of independents that strengthens its hold on its niche, and a community that learns to reach out, support and grow through it.

With a mind for innovation, independents have had to find a niche that will render them impervious to the ever-lengthening shadow of monolithic superstores.

From political forums and web sites, to full-service restaurants and rotating art galleries, to writing workshops and town hall meetings, independent owners are attempting to make their services not simply cutting-edge relevant, but long-term indispensable.

Historically, Ghiz says, independent bookstores have been a business, not first and foremost a cultural outlet. But competition with the superstores has changed that. “Now people check in. Doug Dutton over in Brentwood called. Sisterhood phoned him to see how Dutton’s is doing. When I call any other bookstore, there is a lot of friendliness--now that everything is under the hammer.”

Tightening focus and imagining what they can offer better than superstores are the heart of the independent’s survival.

Says Anita Cano of Long Beach’s Cultura Latina Bookstore: “We just cannot let happen what has happened to other business--this uniform, unisex, unimaginative selection. We want a wide spectrum of tastes--especially with books.”

Cano says she and husband Roberto weren’t worried so much about the superstores when they opened their doors four years ago as they were concerned about the lack of Mexican, Argentine, Spanish and Cuban literature on chain bookstores’ shelves. “Since we’ve been open, Crown and Borders send people here. And we’ll be here as long as the people want us or need us.”

That attitude has been part of James Fugate and Thomas Hamilton’s success at Inglewood’s Eso Won books, which opened a second location in Altadena late last year.

In his seven years in business, Fugate has learned to link up with other independents to garner attention and the necessary clout to draw big names to the store.

“In the past, Eso Won has paid to have authors flown in. I’ve called Dutton’s to see if they would like to get together and secure and share someone like Desmond Tutu for a day. That’s the way to go about it. Not complain. You go out and decide what you are going to do to make this book successful, instead of complaining that you don’t have any authors, that the publishers don’t treat you like the chains.”

Coming together is far more important than just huddling close around a fire for comfort and emotional support, says Guy Adams, Book Soup’s publicity director in West Hollywood:

“It would be easy for lesser-known writers and independent bookstores to crawl in a hole and give up. Independent writers have tried to fight. And with the publishing of this book, and this forum for writers, there is a form of solidarity for independents of all kinds.”

This notion of solidarity, of community, just might be the independent’s salvation.

Poet Beban, collecting his notebooks, chapbooks and jacket, looks around the crowd at Beyond Baroque: “The workshops, writing in general, are really about community, about disparate voices. Creativity is a gift that keeps circulating. You share it. That’s how community grows.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Upcoming Readings

Selected readings from “Foreshock: An Anthology of Poems from the Midnight Special,” are scheduled:

* Saturday, 2 p.m.

Arroyo Books/Libreria Arroyo, 125 S. Avenue 57, L.A.

* Sunday, 3 p.m.

Sisterhood Bookstore, 1351 Westwood Blvd., L.A.

* Jan. 27, 7:30 p.m.

Eso Won Books, 900 N. La Brea Ave., Inglewood

* Jan. 28, 3 p.m.

A Different Light, 8853 Santa Monica Blvd., West Hollywood

* Feb. 3, 7:30 p.m.