Friday, August 25, 2006

Ken Sanders Profiled

The Salt Lake Tribune today runs a lavish (and well-deserved) profile of Salt Lake book dealer/collector Ken Sanders, which begins: " Ken Sanders is not merely a book lover. His devotion runs deeper than that. No, Sanders has full-fledged bibliomania. The bookstore owner exhibits all the classic symptoms of the disorder listed by Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia: buying 'multiple copies of the same book and [the] accumulation of books beyond possible capacity of use.'" (I'm not sure that counts when you're going to sell them again, but we won't hold that against the author).

Sanders' store, the article concludes, "is pure bliss for bibliophiles," but is "
more than just a place to find an old map, diary or literary classic, ... doubles as a 'secular gathering place for the community.' Sanders promotes environmental causes, holds poetry events, small film screenings and political protests."

Always good to see the book community getting this kind of publicity.