six steps down / Book Store on West 25th street closing
and today Sunday June 22 , 2008 will be an auction of contents in their storefront six shops north of the west side market on West 25Th street. For over thirty five years Mike O' Brien and a rotating staff of helpers have served the lower West side of Cleveland quality books at affordable prices. A visible erosion and failure of the rebirth of the retail nature of this commercial strip is apparent. When Mister O' Brien opened at this location in 1979 , his commercial neighbors had a daytime face and among them were a Department store , drug stores , five and ten cent stores , hardware's , furniture stores , banks , dry cleaners , shoe stores , haberdasheries , counter restaurants , and ethnic groceries. Now this once vibrant shopping area has been yuppified to a sickening degree , and is a regular night time tangle of bars and fancy white tablecloth dining joints. Just what Cleveland , Ohio does not need . Yet another commercial strip dedicated to the tastes and fancies of the gentrified high and mighty , and their suburban kin based around alcohol and food. Bars and culinary grift joints will be the death of this fast disappearing city. Mike O' Brien has served in an unofficial capacity as the street's social worker and go to person for the many low income and mentally disturbed citizens who reside near bye. A natural social worker who lead with his heart and came across for those he served. A humble man from Louisville , Kentucky who did not leave his gentle manners at the southern Ohio border , Mike will be missed in a very large fashion. It is business's such as this very bookstore that are supposed to be the winners , not losers when a neighborhood such as the West 25Th street district near the west side market is gentrified. Not so in Cleveland , Ohio. Booze and greasy fleshpots are all the rage. Can vomitoriums be next? Literary affairs and basic civilization is in severe decline here in Cleveland , Ohio 2008 and it is with great sadness that I report this loss of a unique institution that should have been celebrated not ignored by the local hipsters and their poetic kin. More later on this subject. By the way Mister O' Brien informed me that rumour has it that another lower west side book store is planning to apply for a beer and wine license. A sardonic twist to an allready sordid west side tale.Labels: Bookstore On West 25th Street, Cleveland Ohio
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True Art Heist, Have a heart!
" We wuz robbed" , goes the fan's old saw concerning an umpire's errant call in baseball. So wuz the True Art Gallery on East 156th Street near the intersection of Waterloo Road in the North Collinwood neighborhood of Cleveland , Ohio. Robbed of what you might ask ? Sure enough , the computer , and telephones , and the galleries stereo system . Though wait a cotton pickin' minute. The thieves also disassembled an entire art show that was hanging on TrueArt's gallery walls.The paintings , their price tags and printed descriptions. All gone. If I did not know one of the galleries owner's Joanie Deveney well I would expect an inside job or some form of absurd dada art prank. As difficult as book's have become to sell in this modern world , the original works of art , such as the one's stolen from TrueArt make selling books seem a walk in the park in comparison to selling a new artists works. Ms. Deveney has a great heart and spirit , is a fine Mother , and creative artist in her own respect , which makes this all the more of a dilemma for her, having no insurance to cover this theft..... Our Cuyahoga County Government has made it their business to establish via an earlier sin , [ cigarette ] tax to provide funds for a County wide arts and cultural initiative. It appears that most of the initial taxes collected from this arts oriented sin tax have been forked over to " major arts organizations with multi - million dollar budgets" , who would have imagined that combining politics and the arts would have gilded the already fat lilies of those that have in the arts ? Be this as it may , it would sure be a pleasure to see some of this " arts and cultural initiative money" , come to the aid of TrueArt , or any other nascent art gallery , community arts center , or any street level art or cultural organization willing to stick their necks out for the good of a community and it's citizens. I suppose that while we are at it the near west side book store Six Steps Down , just six storefronts north of the West Side Market could qualify for some of these " arts funds". Six Steps Down is a non profit , and it's principal worker Michael O' Brien , has served twin occupations as social worker for west 25Th streets needier cases as well as it's only retail book store. Ms. Deveney and her partner James Tomko of True Art Gallery are tacitly a for profit enterprise , though the North Collinwood neighborhood they exist within has more than it's share of crime and negative street activity on a regular basis than it's councilman Michael Polensek would have you believe. In an article by da p.d.'s Karen Sandstrom from Septemeber 29 , 2007 entitled " Can Waterloo Road be Cleveland's next Tremont?" , Polensek is quoted referring to the perceived nature of crime in the Waterloo neighborhood , " The neighborhood is one of Cleveland's safest , but it's still an urban neighborhood." Polensek made that bold statement when True Art Gallery had been broken into the first time in mid - September 2007 , a few days prior to Ms. Sandstrom's article. Barely four months have passed and another break in occurs at the same said gallery , this time with more dire consequences than the first heist which resulted in the theft of power tools. Councilman Polensek might brag on North Collinwood being one of Cleveland's safest neighborhoods , though in the context of Cleveland being one of the top ten least safe major cities in America on a perennial basis , he ain't saying that much! As for the thief or thieves that stole the artworks. Good luck in fencing these works of art! You thieves would have been better off stealing bags of frozen catfish or authentic logs of processed cheese from the local big box store instead. At least you could have been eatin' for your cheatin'.... Time has arrived for us small fry citizens who do care about the efforts of the true human spirits that make it their business to open and operate art galleries such as True Art , or book stores such as The Book Store on West Twenty Fifth Street to speak out to the political types who hold the purse strings for public funds ostensibly used to fund the " arts". Write a letter to your County Commissioners with your suggestions. I make my suggestion that True Art Gallery and The Bookstore on West 25Th Street be assigned some of these arts funds on a basis to allow them to continue to operate as storefronts in a city whose storefronts are as often as not empty and lacking any activity.Cultural assets they are. Assign some of these " arts funds " , as well to the children of Cleveland , Ohio and it's suburbs as an after school diversion program featuring arts activities as an alternative to drugs, crime, and the streets that currently encourage those activities. Perhaps a benefit of sorts to help out the True Art gallery cause would be in keeping with this enlightened " arts" spirit. We will be happy to donate books for a benefit if it comes to pass. In the meantime give with your heart to the owner's of True Art . Ms. Deveney surely would not ask , so I will on her behalf. Perhaps the other art galleries doing business in Cleveland currently would help one of their own by organizing donations for a benefit auction to help the plight of True Art and their plight. Most artists that enter into the gallery business lead with their hearts not their business acumen. Time has come for the Cleveland arts community to aid one of their own who is hurting and in need. Book Selling Time! A large volume we offer today by Huntington Cairns , entitled THE LIMITS OF ART. one thousand four hundred seventy three pages of prose and poetry , compiled by Cairns for the acclaimed Bollingen series of books published by Princeton University Press. Setting all that aside , this thick tome covers the gamut of verse from classical to modern times , and would serve as great companion if stranded on a desert island , or stuck in the likes of a fallen city such as Cleveland , Ohio today.Labels: Bookstore On West 25th Street, Cleveland Ohio, True Art Gallery, True Crime
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What's to like about Cleveland?
Plenty!
Lake Erie and life that revolves with the seasonal flux of this proud body of freshwater.
Walking through the Northern Ohio Food Terminal vibrant with color and life while visiting the commission houses in search of a box of limes or avocados at five a.m. All the great dedicated people who choose to reside here.
Buying fruit or seasonal vegetables from the kind gentleman farmer from Northeast, Pennsylvania who sets up shop from his truck bed next to the Middle East Bakery and Saint Maron's church on Carnegie Road every Sunday morning during harvest.
This farmer's marketing is unique in that the length of nearbye Woodland Avenue was formerly a curbside market stretching eastward from the old Central Market to East 55Th Street, for the majority late nineteenth and early to mid-twentieth century and his stand is the last link in a time honored tradition.
All items for sale are home grown, and last Sunday produced late season tomatoes, a variety of apples, peppers, kale, parsley, and a stunning variety of colorful eggplants. The great swatch of urban greenery that comprises still the tree's that gave name to Cleveland as "The Forest City."
The restored majestic theatres of Playhouse Square and the robust life they provide for an otherwise drunk and addled sports oriented downtown.
The interesting International district along Payne, Saint Clair, and Superior avenues east of downtown, naively referred to as "Chinatown" by the local media, which is a unique blend of Oriental, Occidental, and Hispanic populations and the flavors they are comprised of. Stopping on a Sunday morning to listen to and take in a lively storefront church service whose sanctified chorus stills the heart and gives truer meaning to the word religion.
Hot fresh hand twisted breads from Presti's bakery on Mayfield Road.
Corbo's Bakery across the street on Mayfield Road for cassata cake, lemon ice, or any sweet treat. Smoked meats from Zagreb meats on Saint Clair Avenue, do not miss his smoked pork tenderloins!
A stroll through the City off Cleveland greenhouses just east off Martin Luther King Blvd. south of the Interstate 90 exit.
Fishing off the rocks behind the old Cleveland Public Power plant on the North Marginal Road.
The Seven Roses Delicatessen on Fleet Street in the Slavic Village neighborhood. Music and good times at The Beachland Ballroom in North Collinwood, the most creative, unique, and well run music venue in the State of Ohio, and one of the finest clubs in operation in The United States of America.
The downtown Cleveland Public Library and its great collections spanning two buildings and multiple floors.
Can't say enough good words about CPL, with the Cleveland Museum of Art closed for remodeling check out what this biblio treasure house has to offer. Open Sundays thru the springtime.
All the great citizens of this struggling city and their hopes and dreams! The charming old school ambiance of The Bookstore On West 25th street, just six storefront steps north of the West Side Market along West 25th Street.
Hot dogs, chili, and coffee at the Old Fashioned Hot Dog on Lorain Road, open late most evening!
Book selling time!
November is here already and if anyone out there would like to get a head start on the Holiday season we can offer a slew of suggestions, including a seasonal title by Charles Dickens, his A CHRISTMAS CAROL, this volume is quite rare, and has been avidly collected since its publication.
Hats off to John and Kim, and all my family.Labels: Beachland Ballroom, Bookstore On West 25th Street, Cleveland Ohio, Corbo's Bakery, CPLy, NOFT, Old Fashioned Hot Dogs, Prestis Bakery, Zagreb Meats
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Contact Information:
Old Erie Street Bookstore
2128 East Ninth Street
Cleveland, Ohio
44115
United States
Phone: 216-575-0743
Email: olderiestreetbooks@sbcglobal.net
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"Outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read."
~ Groucho Marx
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"When I get a little money, I buy books. And if there is any left over, I buy food."
~ Desiderius Erasmus
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