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Visit Great Good Place for Books in Montclair Village | June<\/p>\n
After more than two decades at the helm of the beloved, intimate local \u2014 and independent \u2014 bookstore in Montclair Village, owner Kathleen Caldwell is closing the store. Caldwell inherited GGPB from its previous owner, Debi Echlin, and thereafter stocked the shop with books from the marvelously engaging to the profoundly life-changing. The staff brought a wealth of knowledge and shared Caldwell\u2019s zest for local writers. Local, national and international writers appeared in-person, sometimes causing long lines that ran through the store, out the door, and around the block. To support and pay tribute to Caldwell and the staff at GGPB, the best actions are visit, buy books, and offer an in-person \u201cthank you\u201d for contributions to the community. A special closing party celebration mid-June is TBD. Check the store website for updates.<\/p>\n
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Caldwell with author Steven Rowley<\/p>\n
Caldwell\u2019s sister has established a retirement GoFundMe campaign to help provide essential funding while Caldwell transitions to Social Security and disability payments. Health concerns that in recent years accumulated and sometimes were severe enough to prevent Caldwell from being in the store are ongoing. If GGPB was a positive force in anyone\u2019s life, consider a contribution. With hints she might begin working on a novel after the store shutters, financial support might be seed money for a local, budding, debut author. Support Caldwell, and learn more @ gofundme.com\/f\/help-kathleen-bridge-to-retirement-after-20-yrs-at-ggp-books<\/a><\/p>\n Until mid-June, during store hours | Visit ggpbooks.com<\/a> for more information<\/p>\n \u201cHomesick for A World Unknown\u201d: On Wildness, Exile, and the Human Imagination @ Clio\u2019s Books | Jun. 10<\/p>\n Author and environmentalist\u00a0Miriam Horn is joined in conversation by conservationist\u00a0Rodney Jackson\u00a0and anthropologist\u00a0Cari Borja for a discussion about animal-human boundaries, immersive wildlife observation, the history of human and animal co-existence, and how we might live equitably, responsibly, and thoughtfully in the future. Horn\u2019s newest work spotlights the renowned field biologist George B. Schaller, who spent over seventy years living among mountain gorillas and studied tigers, lions, pandas, and other endangered animals. Before focusing primarily on books and documentary films\u00a0Horn worked at the Environmental Defense Fund and the US Forest Service, and wrote for magazines and newspapers, including\u00a0The New York Times.<\/p>\n June 10 @ 7 p.m. | $10-44.52 @ cliosbooks.com<\/a> | Clio\u2019s Books @ 353 Grand Ave, Oakland<\/p>\n Christian Bancroft\u2019s \u201cA Ghost Has No Fantasies\u201d @ Pegasus Books Downtown | June 22<\/p>\n Bancroft\u2019s cross-genre debut tells the story of LGBTQ+ individuals who suffered under Nazi persecution. Through poetry and prose drawn from archival documents, survivor stories, and Gestapo files, the experiences of gay men, lesbians, and transgender individuals imprisoned under the regime\u2019s Paragraph 175 emerge. Bancroft is the author of \u201cQueering Modernist Translation: The Poetics of Race, Gender, and Queerness\u201d and co-editor of the 2018 Unsung Masters Series volume,\u00a0\u201cAdelaide Crapsey: The Life & Work of an American Master.\u201d\u00a0He will be joined by Bay Area authors and poets\u00a0Shelley Wong,\u00a0Jesse Nathan,\u00a0and\u00a0Andy King. The event takes place at Pegasus Books Downtown\u2019s location on Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/homesick_horn-771x1172.jpeg\"){kind=spacer}
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