Joyce Meskis On Newt, Hillary, and Eternal Optimism
Independent Bookstore Icon to Speak at May 16 Park Hill Bookstore Fundraiser
By Jack Farrar
Joyce Meskis is a successful entrepreneur, but those who know her story realize that her business model is not measured by profit and wealth.
In 1974, Meskis purchased the Tattered Cover in Cherry Creek, all 900 square feet of it, and eventually grew it into one of the most respected independent bookstores in the country. There are now several Tattered Covers in metro Denver – one in LoDo, one in Highlands Ranch, and one on East Colfax at the Lowenstein Cultureplex across from East High School. Two licensed outlets are at Denver International Airport (with another on the way) and a new location is part of the Union Station project in lower downtown, just a short walk away from the anchor store on Wynkoop Street.
This is a remarkable achievement, given that it is risky, at best, to run a bookstore. Profit margins are thin. The big box stores are difficult to compete with. The printed book itself is up against an array of electronic alternatives that are growing exponentially. Yet, the Tattered Cover hangs in there, offering a unique refuge for the literary-minded in a media-cluttered world.
The story of the Tattered Cover is, on a much grander scale, similar to that of the Park Hill Community Bookstore. which is hosting Meskis on May 16 at Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church.
‘It just sounded right’
The Tattered Cover and the Park Hill Community Bookstore opened the same month of the same year – May of 1971. Both continue to hang in there, despite the onslaught of well-heeled competitors. The Park Hill Bookstore exists in large part because of dedicated members and volunteers. The Tattered Cover survives because its employees are willing to work for minimal compensation, and Meskis is earning far less than most CEO’s.
I visited Meskis at the Colfax Tattered Cover recently. Predictably, she has a wealth of stories chronicling a lifetime love affair with books.
“When I bought the Tattered Cover, it was a little [store],” says Meskis. “People assumed it sold just used books, because of the name, but I decided to keep the name because it just sounded right.”
Has the Tattered Cover grown too large?
“That depends on what you mean by too large,” responds Meskis. “We’ve moved or opened new stores based on the demand in the market. I didn’t open a store in Highlands Ranch as a speculative thing. It came about largely because customers on the south side didn’t want to fight traffic through T-Rex highway construction.”
Tattered Cover decided to open on Colfax after the lease on its original Cherry Creek location was set to expire. “The Colfax location just seemed perfect to us because of the symmetry with others in the complex, one of the best urban rehab projects on the east side.”
Meskis said the decision to have collaboratively licensed stores at DIA was not an easy one. “We talked about it for five years before we were satisfied that the stores would reflect the quality of Tattered Cover.”
Hungry for knowledge
The topic of Meskis’ address on May 16 is “The Future of the Independent Bookstore.”
“I am an eternal optimist,” she says. “I think books and bookstores will be around forever. Reading is not merely a cerebral exercise, it’s tactile. People love to hold books in their hands, put them down, pick them up later, and read them in different settings.
“The predictions about the demise of books have always been overblown. After WWII People thought it would be the end of good publishing when paperback books were introduced in a big way. But hard covers and paperbacks continue to sell. The method of delivery may change, but the hunger for knowledge and good writing is timeless.”
The Tattered Cover hosts more than 500 book signings a year. Hundreds of writers have visited the store, some famous, some obscure. Sometimes they attract picketers.
“When we scheduled Newt Gingrich I was warned to get ready for challenges,” Meskis says. “Sure enough, we got angry calls, and there were quite a few protestors. One man said he had purchased thousands of dollars worth of books from us, but he wouldn’t buy another. Although, he did add that he would continue to come in and sit in our chairs. When we had Hillary Clinton here, the reaction was just as emotional.”
An author appearance that affected Meskis deeply was that of Buckminster Fuller, the architect/futurist behind many alternative science and design trends of the fifties and sixties, responsible for, among other innovations, the geodesic dome. “When he came here he was elderly and frail,” says Meskis. “The Tattered Cover at that time was in a two-story building and there was no elevator. Fuller appeared as if he could barely take a few steps, much less get up stairs. But he did. The signing took a lot out of him. But he was a remarkable, charming man. His fans adored him.”
Holding her First Amendment ground
Tattered Cover was a lead player in a famous First Amendment case that reverberated throughout the bookstore business. In 2002, the Colorado Supreme Court, in a 6-0 decision (with one abstention), found that the store had no obligation to turn over sales records regarding an individual suspected in a methamphetamine case.
Despite a good deal of pressure from law enforcement authorities, Meskis held her ground on the principle that only in certain extreme cases should anyone divulge what they are reading or where they bought a book. Curiously, the book in question in the case was about calligraphy, whose application to meth production is suspect.
“It has been described as a landmark legal case,” says Meskis. “I don’t know about that. But I do think it was an important statement about the First Amendment.”
Meskis won the PEN Paul Newman’s Own First Amendment Award, and a documentary about the case airs on public television.
A graduate of Purdue, with a degree in English literature, and past president of the American Booksellers Association, Meskis is director of the University of Denver Publishing Institute, through which nearly 100 students take intensive four-week courses, covering traditional and new media publishing trends in fiction and nonfiction.
Jack Farrar is a longtime board member of the Park Hill Community Bookstore.