Once upon a time, there was a girl who loved books. She loved them the way that lonely man(played by Burgess Meredith)in the old Twilight Zone episode loved them, with zeal and single-mindedness. Not surprisingly, she found herself feeling right at home in libraries and bookstores. The girl grew up into a woman who taught young people to love reading. She loved to buy books and share them with her charges. But a teacher’s salary is never adequate for such magnanimity so she would frequent used bookstores. One afternoon, a fellow teacher mentioned a local book warehouse. She was there as soon as possible, aghast at the size of it. It was a humongous, glorious thing, all dusty orange crates and drafty rooms, piles and piles of books and more books. As the years went on, she did not visit as often as she would like it, but it had a place in her heart.

Imagine my chagrin last week when Blues and I discovered that Gray Wolf Books has closed. Permanently. I did a Google Search and the store’s website hadn’t been updated since 2003(yikes!) According to Yelp reviewers, the store was already closed in September of 2007. I am sad to learn this amazing place will only be a memory. It was a great place to get cheap book and wander for hours. Like Cody’s of Berkeley, this wonderful bookstore will live on in my heart.