June 12, 1988-San Antonio Express-News
PAPERBACKS... NO MAS?
Life more than a win-or-lose balance sheet; it is also an open door to opportunity, even when things seem bleak. We came to San Antonio almost five years ago with poems, songs and a number of dreams to sustain us. We also had a small bank loan, as well as the backing of John Tilton, Marquetta Herring and their three Paperbacks Plus bookstores in Dallas, Mesquite and Austin. Other resources were friendships with numerous poets and artists from Austin, San Antonio and other parts of the nation. One dream was to create a space, an open forum for the arts along with a bookstore-gallery to support creative expression as an extension of our work and experience. I wanted a barrio setting where there were no outlets for books, art and poetry. The idea was one of serving people while stimulating them by making the arts and political dialogue accessible. Poets responded with their works, as did artists, dancers, musiclans and activists of many stripes.
OPEN TO ANYONE
There were no dues or fees, and the forums were open to anyone regardless of background, ethnicity, race or track record.
Tertulias came into being, as did a 56 month spectrum of readings on each succeeding third Sunday. The Poets of Tejas always has had an audience at PAPERBACKS ... ¡y Mas! Bookstore and Gallery, 1819 Blanco road. One could find well-established bards alongside poetic voices uttering their first stanzas before an audience there. It was a democratic process with rough edges and stirring surprises, and many a newcomer cut his or her first poetic teeth there.
The feeling of the space was one of experimentation, and while there has been a procession of poets, artists and performers trekking into the store to celebrate culture and arts, sadly there has been very little traffic to buy books. Blanco Road has very little foot traffic with the economic means to support a bookstore. The book business is an iffy proposition at best, and it takes more than an $11,000 loan to get a bookstore going for those lean first years.
New books are expensive and beyond the reach of new used bookstores. Stocking requires larger outlays. Rent is a continuous drain, as are utilities, salaries, taxes and burnout.
A CALMING EFFECT
Still, there is a claming effect that thrives in bookstores, a sense of meaning and reflection. Exploration is ever on hand.
It is with a mixture of sadness and joy that I now see John Tilton, who took over PAPERBACKS ... ¡y Mas! two years ago, making the gut churning decision to let go of the store.
I want to find local owners for the bookstore," Tilton said over the phone. "A couple, or neighborhood group, or a non-profit organization to continue the store and the programs and events we have hosted for the community.
I am too tied down with our stores in Dallas and Mesquite, along with the Austin Store, to continue operating in San Antonio.
"The arts and poetry are important, and so are discussion groups, but the book business is not as sound as it used to be and we have to consolidate things," Tilton continued
A bookstore demands time and energy from its owner, and Tilton and Herring cannot spare much for the store here. They are the doting parents of their first child--John Eliot--and their marriage of more than a decade has seen them struggling long and hard to make their stores pay off.
They reoffered the store to me, but I have writing to attend to, and my needs call for more experimentation and prose, not tending to a business that might be better off in the hands of someone with that kind of acumen. HELP OFFERED
Tilton said he would entertain offers from anyone and help an arts or cultural organization take it over on extremely accommodating terms.
"We are open to any proposals," Tilton said, "very flexible terms. It all depends on who wants it and what they would plan to do with it. We would like for arts and poetry events to continue, to support discussion groups and help young people," Tilton continued.
As things stand now, there will be, perhaps a final reading of The Poets of Tejas next Sunday on Blanco Road, but the reading series will not die; I plan to seek other spaces for poetry, art and cultural expression. All poetic voices are welcome for a jam of verbs and nouns on the 19th.
Victor Tello on June 25 will probably be the last visual artist to show there unless someone or some group opts to keep the place going.
The space will be missed by more than bards and artists; its loss will be felt by all those young people who became readers in the upstairs gallery, those whose resources could not buy books but who deserved the right to lounge and read, and even check out books freely.
There is also the joy I feel for the countless times that artists and poets shared their image-ladened cultural explorations, the discovery of poetic clarity in the voice of a plumber, janitor, teacher, lawyer or octogenarian grandmother.
The beauty of teen-agers daring to express their views, fears and humble realizations; the empowerment of poetry, and the friendships that flowed from strangers endearing themselves in our feelings.
Star-crossed experiment
It has been a multifaceted, star-crossed experiment, paying spiritual dividends while also taking an economic toll. I salute Tilton and Marquetta for putting personal resources on the line, daring to support the arts until they became an unsustainable burden.
If there are any takers, call Tilton collect at (214)388-5539. New energies and visions might just turn the corner on a needed space for art and poetry. Otherwise, the bookstore will close June 30.
There is a sadness as new doors open and possibility hail me and family; the writings of a new chapter...