November/December 2011

by Mari SanGiovanni

Q: How do you take your mind off a broken heart?
A: You spend time with your crazy Italian family, of course.

And there's plenty to distract Marie Santora when she comes home to lick her wounds. Not least her sister Lisa's plan to transform a rundown campground into a gay and lesbian paradise — complete with a five-star Italian restaurant — with the help of a contractor who just happens to be the woman who broke their brother's heart.

But the Santoras are a family that could sink the Loveboat. Especially since they don't know the meaning of minding their own business. When the whole clan decides to fix things for their girls, they wreak havoc all the way from the backwoods of Rhode Island to the campy streets of Provincetown. And when the campfire heats up, it's a recipe for heartburn.

"Damn if I didn't actually laugh out loud while reading it — several times, in fact." — AfterEllen.com

$14.95
Lesbian Fiction 302 pages ISBN 978-1-932859-86-7

We celebrated the launch of 96 Hours, the new book by Georgia Beers. She also appeared with Sally Bellerose and Marianne K. Martin, who read from their books The Girls Club and the The Indelible Heart, appearing alongside Kate Clinton.

And we were delighted to help Womencrafts celebrate its 30th Birthday.

Here's to next year — and we've already got plans.

In 1969, a group of graduate students decided to open a bookstore "to offer literature that wasn't to be found elsewhere."

And so Left Bank Books was born. It was "the first place in St. Louis you could buy a book by a lesbian. Thanks to me," says the current owner Kris Kleindienst. ("Sorry," she adds, "that came off egotistical.")

But few of her customers would even want her apology: "For many years prior to the internet, we were a destination for so many young and not so young gay people looking for some kind of support. I've had many testimonial notes from folks who told me they mustered up the courage to come in and check out our gay section. Even to be near the books was scary. But we were a lifeline for them. We fielded countless calls, directed people to the gay bars, the hotline, the support groups in the area, the legal services. We were the place people came to when they needed GLBT information."

As a result, Left Bank Books amassed a core of loyal customers. And in 1977, when the store badly needed money in order to survive, it was a customer who said "Why don't you ask people for money? I'll give you $100." In total, says, Kris, "We raised $5,000 and the vote of confidence we needed to go forward with . . . the store."

Since then, Left Bank Books has continued to serve its community. "In St. Louis," Kris explains "many kids not only can't afford books, they have no experience of books in their homes." What's more, the city schools are "severely under-resourced, . . . serving largely African American and immigrant/refugee populations." In response, the store has set up the River City Readers program, which gives students books to keep and sets up events with authors. "Parents report that we are making readers out of their children." And one 2nd Grade Teacher, Ms. Jason, wrote to say, "I literally had a student cry last year because she was so happy to receive such a nice book with her name on it, that she could only read because she worked so hard to improve her reading during the school year."

To fund the program, the store raised almost $30,000 this summer alone — it's telling that this came mostly from small donations. The Left Bank Books Foundation was established earlier this year in the hope of attracting larger contributions "and that has gone well in spite of the fact we have no Foundation staff. We just sort of do everything ourselves."

And clearly the community values the effort. In the mid-1990s, when "the chains were opening at a rapid pace all around us and they were getting the whole pie", it was again a customer who came up with an idea that made a difference. "I love our customers," says Kris. "They try to take care of us." And they can now join The Friends of Left Bank Books Literary Society, paying an annual membership that gives them discounts, as well as access to private sales and receptions with authors. Back then "The Friends was unique — no other store had done something quite like this at this point. Amazingly, year after year, people continue to renew and join, giving money to a for-profit store because they believe in what we do."

"This has been consistently a source of great motivation for us. If our customers care so much that they will simply give us money just to keep us here, well then we are charged with a pretty important mission. It's an honor, really, to be the caretaker of something so important in a community."

That Left Bank Books has become so important must surely be down to its independence. "We aren't just corporate money-making machines. What we carry and how we do business means something to us." She gives an obvious example: "Lesbian Reading Groups are set up by indie bookstores because we are run by lesbians! The chainstores have perceived no monetary reason to use the "L" word in their stores." (Unless the "L" is a celebrity . . .)

Today, of course, both chainstores and independents must take account of the rise in e-Books and the explosion of self-publishing. To understand their impact, check out the blogs on the store's website (click here). They are written by Jarek Steele, who manages the store's website and is President of the St. Louis Independent Bookstore Alliance. (If you are thinking of self-publishing, do read "Indie Publishing" — A Meditation on Words and Their Meanings, posted on July 3 this year. It'll open your eyes.)

It is impossible to talk about Left Bank Books, though, without talking about the cats. Kris explains that the store has had a cat ever since "I heard Captain Nemo yelling from the shallows of a pond someone had tossed him in, while I sat there talking with my then business partner. It was the evening of our tenth anniversary, so it was 22 years ago! When Nemo passed away . . . our next door neighbor the hair stylist scooped Jamaica off the sidewalk and she graced our presence for another 12 or so years. Spike came along next, fished out of a dumpster near our store. They have all been coal black and long-haired, but that is where the resemblance ends. And they have all had their own fans, people who come in specifically to see them."

So, next time you're in St. Louis, visit the flagship store at 399 N. Euclid Avenue. Or go to 321 North 10th Street, where a second store opened in 2008.