This week we lost one of the greatest booksellers in America, Joe Drabyak of Chester County Books in Chester, Pennsylvania. The list of Grove Atlantic books and authors that Joe championed is too long to recount but two in particular stand out. Joe helped us breakout Sheri Holman’s
The Dress Lodger and he was a huge early fan and supporter of local author Mark Bowden. When Mark’s book
Black Hawk Down was nominated for the National Book Award in 1999 we invited him to be our guest at the awards dinner in New York. Having Joe at our table that night was special, but then being with Joe anywhere anytime was special. He was a wonderful man, a lover of books, an enthusiast for all things right and good in our world. He loved discovering new authors and sharing good books, he was passionate about the noble profession of bookselling and eager to encourage and mentor young booksellers. Joe was our friend and he will be sorely missed.
Read more tributes to Joe on Shelf Awareness