Nashville-based publicist Julie Schoerke of JKS Communications sent a picture from last Saturday’s 32nd anniversary celebration for That Bookstore in Blytheville, an independent bookstore in northeast Arkansas. Schoerke emails that about 50 of the store’s fans, including other local business owners and authors, joined founder Mary Gay Shipley (seated) at the story, helping themselves to cake provided by the new bakery that’s about to open in downtown Blytheville.
As part of the celebration, Shipley invited customers and other friends of That Bookstore to contribute “six-word stories” which she’ll use to decorate one of the store’s folding chairs—which are traditionally autographed by visiting authors like Susan Gregg Gilmore (center, with another That Bookstore employee). The chair she’s sitting in in this photo, for example, was signed by John Grisham, who first came to the store in 1990 with a trunkful of copies of A Time to Kill; Shipley’s support of that novel formed a lasting bond between author and shop.