Booksmith
Encyclopedia
Founded in October 1976, The Booksmith is an independent bookstore
located in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. When first opened, the store was located at 1746 Haight Street, below the former I-Beam nightclub
. In 1985, the store moved to its current location at 1644 Haight Street at Belvedere, about a block and a half from the intersection of Haight and Ashbury. Other neighborhood businesses include the Persian Aub Zam-Zam, Recycled Records, Amoeba Music
, and Ben & Jerry's
Ice Cream. Also located nearby is the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic.
The Booksmith caters to neighborhood residents as well as tourists seeking the counter-cultural ambiance of Haight Street
. The Booksmith is general interest shop, and is a member of both the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) and the American Booksellers Association
(ABA).
In June 2007, The Booksmith was sold by its founder Gary Frank to married couple Christin Evans and Praveen Madan. The original business was closed, and a new business, Haight Booksmith LLC, opened in its place. According to media reports at the time, the new owners plan to take the store in a different direction.
In May 2011, SF Weekly
in its "Best of San Francisco" issue named Booksmith the city's "Best Reimagined Bookstore." Describing the changes to the bookstore, "The new owners gutted the clogged entranceway, feng shui-ed the interior, and gave it a cool Victorian steampunk black-and-teal paint job... with more than 200 in-store author readings a year, Booksmith is more of a literary mecca than ever."
, and Booker Prize winners.
Among the celebrated authors who have appeared at past Booksmith events are the Nobel Prize winning Polish poet Czesław Miłosz, science fiction great Ray Bradbury
, gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson
, children's author Lemony Snicket
, rock legends Neil Young
and Patti Smith
, and photographers Richard Avedon
and Annie Leibovitz
. Notably, Beat generation
poet Allen Ginsberg
gave his last ever reading at The Booksmith, a few months before his death.
Located in the heart of the Haight Ashbury, the store has hosted many individuals associated with the 1960s counter-culture. These include sixties icon Timothy Leary
and one-time Digger Peter Coyote
. Among the musicians who have appeared at the store are Grateful Dead
band members Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart, as well as Grace Slick
(Jefferson Airplane), and Ray Manzarek (The Doors
). Some of the Beat-related authors who have appeared at the store include Lawrence Ferlinghetti
, Michael McClure
, and Diane DiPrima.
(author of The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop), novelist Kiara Brinkman
(author of Up High in the Trees), syndicated cartoonist Tom Tomorrow
(author of the This Modern World comic strip), San Francisco Bay Guardian
contributing writer Todd Lavoie, short story writer Lisa K. Buchanan, and humorist Paco Romane
.
Independent bookstore
An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned.-Literary and countercultural history:Author events at independent bookstores sometimes take the role of literary salons. The bookstores themselves, "have historically supported and cultivated the work of independent...
located in the Haight Ashbury neighborhood of San Francisco. When first opened, the store was located at 1746 Haight Street, below the former I-Beam nightclub
I-Beam (nightclub)
The I-Beam was a popular nightclub in San Francisco that was located in the Haight-Ashbury neighborhood at 1748 Haight Street from October 1977 to July 1994.-Opening of the I-Beam:...
. In 1985, the store moved to its current location at 1644 Haight Street at Belvedere, about a block and a half from the intersection of Haight and Ashbury. Other neighborhood businesses include the Persian Aub Zam-Zam, Recycled Records, Amoeba Music
Amoeba Music
Amoeba Music is an independent music chain with stores in Berkeley, San Francisco, and Hollywood, Los Angeles, California. Founded by former employees of nearby Rasputin Records, it opened on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley in 1990. The stores are unusually large given their independent status...
, and Ben & Jerry's
Ben & Jerry's
Ben & Jerry's is an American ice cream company, a division of the British-Dutch Unilever conglomerate, that manufactures ice cream, frozen yogurt, sorbet, and ice cream novelty products, manufactured by Ben & Jerry's Homemade Holdings, Inc., headquartered in South Burlington, Vermont, United...
Ice Cream. Also located nearby is the Haight Ashbury Free Clinic.
The Booksmith caters to neighborhood residents as well as tourists seeking the counter-cultural ambiance of Haight Street
Haight Street
Haight Street, in San Francisco, is perhaps best known as the principal street in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, also known as Upper Haight. It stretches from Market Street to Stanyan Street, at Golden Gate Park. It is named after California pioneer and exchange banker Henry Haight ....
. The Booksmith is general interest shop, and is a member of both the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) and the American Booksellers Association
American Booksellers Association
The American Booksellers Association is a non-profit industryassociation founded in 1900 that promotes independent bookstores in the United States and Canada. The ABA and its members support freedom of speech, literacy, and programs that encourage reading...
(ABA).
In June 2007, The Booksmith was sold by its founder Gary Frank to married couple Christin Evans and Praveen Madan. The original business was closed, and a new business, Haight Booksmith LLC, opened in its place. According to media reports at the time, the new owners plan to take the store in a different direction.
In May 2011, SF Weekly
SF Weekly
SF Weekly is a free alternative weekly newspaper in San Francisco, California. The newspaper, distributed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area every Wednesday, is published by Village Voice Media, a 16-paper alt weekly newspaper chain that also includes the New York City Village Voice and the Los...
in its "Best of San Francisco" issue named Booksmith the city's "Best Reimagined Bookstore." Describing the changes to the bookstore, "The new owners gutted the clogged entranceway, feng shui-ed the interior, and gave it a cool Victorian steampunk black-and-teal paint job... with more than 200 in-store author readings a year, Booksmith is more of a literary mecca than ever."
Authors events
The store is known for its "ongoing celebrated events program." In the past, the series has featured many authors including novelists, poets, science fiction writers, biographers, historians, cartoonists, Pulitzer PrizePulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
, and Booker Prize winners.
Among the celebrated authors who have appeared at past Booksmith events are the Nobel Prize winning Polish poet Czesław Miłosz, science fiction great Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
, gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter S. Thompson
Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author who wrote The Rum Diary , Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail '72 .He is credited as the creator of Gonzo journalism, a style of reporting where reporters involve themselves in the action to...
, children's author Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket
Lemony Snicket is the pen name of American novelist Daniel Handler . Snicket is the author of several children's books, serving as the narrator of A Series of Unfortunate Events and appearing as a character within the series. Because of this, the name Lemony Snicket may refer to both a fictional...
, rock legends Neil Young
Neil Young
Neil Percival Young, OC, OM is a Canadian singer-songwriter who is widely regarded as one of the most influential musicians of his generation...
and Patti Smith
Patti Smith
Patricia Lee "Patti" Smith is an American singer-songwriter, poet and visual artist, who became a highly influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album Horses....
, and photographers Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon
Richard Avedon was an American photographer. An obituary published in The New York Times said that "his fashion and portrait photographs helped define America's image of style, beauty and culture for the last half-century."-Photography career:Avedon was born in New York City to a Jewish Russian...
and Annie Leibovitz
Annie Leibovitz
Anna-Lou "Annie" Leibovitz is an American portrait photographer.-Early life and education:Born in Waterbury, Connecticut, Leibovitz is the third of six children. She is a third-generation American whose great-grandparents were Jewish immigrants, from Central and Eastern Europe. Her father's...
. Notably, Beat generation
Beat generation
The Beat Generation refers to a group of American post-WWII writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, as well as the cultural phenomena that they both documented and inspired...
poet Allen Ginsberg
Allen Ginsberg
Irwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet and one of the leading figures of the Beat Generation in the 1950s. He vigorously opposed militarism, materialism and sexual repression...
gave his last ever reading at The Booksmith, a few months before his death.
Located in the heart of the Haight Ashbury, the store has hosted many individuals associated with the 1960s counter-culture. These include sixties icon Timothy Leary
Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary was an American psychologist and writer, known for his advocacy of psychedelic drugs. During a time when drugs like LSD and psilocybin were legal, Leary conducted experiments at Harvard University under the Harvard Psilocybin Project, resulting in the Concord Prison...
and one-time Digger Peter Coyote
Peter Coyote
Peter Coyote is an American actor, author, director, screenwriter and narrator of films, theatre, television and audio books. His voice work includes narrating the opening ceremony of the 2002 Winter Olympics and Apple's iPad campaign. He has also served as on-camera co-host of the 2000 Oscar...
. Among the musicians who have appeared at the store are Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
band members Phil Lesh and Mickey Hart, as well as Grace Slick
Grace Slick
Grace Slick is an American singer and songwriter, who was one of the lead singers of the rock groups The Great Society, Jefferson Airplane, Jefferson Starship, and Starship, and was a solo artist, for nearly three decades, from the mid-1960s to the mid-1990s...
(Jefferson Airplane), and Ray Manzarek (The Doors
The Doors
The Doors were an American rock band formed in 1965 in Los Angeles, California, with vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, drummer John Densmore, and guitarist Robby Krieger...
). Some of the Beat-related authors who have appeared at the store include Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti
Lawrence Ferlinghetti is an American poet, painter, liberal activist, and the co-founder of City Lights Booksellers & Publishers...
, Michael McClure
Michael McClure
Michael McClure is an American poet, playwright, songwriter, and novelist. After moving to San Francisco as a young man, he found fame as one of the five poets who read at the famous San Francisco Six Gallery reading in 1955 rendered in barely fictionalized terms in Jack Kerouac's Dharma Bums...
, and Diane DiPrima.
Other information
Over the years, a number of authors have been employed by The Booksmith, including writer Lewis BuzbeeLewis Buzbee
Lewis Buzbee is a San Francisco based author and poet.He is "a fourth generation California native on his mother’s side, and a Dust Bowl Okie on his father’s." -Work:...
(author of The Yellow-Lighted Bookshop), novelist Kiara Brinkman
Kiara Brinkman
Kiara Brinkman is an American writer born in Omaha, Nebraska now living in San Francisco, California. Her 2007 novel, Up High in the Trees, was published by Grove Press and was widely reviewed. Brinkman has also authored several short stories. Her work has appeared in One Story, Pinelboyz,...
(author of Up High in the Trees), syndicated cartoonist Tom Tomorrow
Tom Tomorrow
Tom Tomorrow is the pen name of editorial cartoonist Dan Perkins. His weekly comic strip This Modern World, which comments on current events, appears regularly in over 90 newspapers across the U.S. and Canada as of 2006, as well as on CREDO Action and Daily Kos, where he is its comics curator...
(author of the This Modern World comic strip), San Francisco Bay Guardian
San Francisco Bay Guardian
The San Francisco Bay Guardian is a free alternative newspaper published weekly in San Francisco, California. The paper is owned mostly by its publisher, Bruce B...
contributing writer Todd Lavoie, short story writer Lisa K. Buchanan, and humorist Paco Romane
Paco Romane
Paco Romane is a comedian, actor, multi-instrumentalist, humorist, writer, and stand up comedian based in San Francisco after leaving the great midwest. His true love is comedy. He has a large fan base and his short comedy films have won him numerous awards and a big following.- Style :Romane's...
.