I REALLY JUST DID WANT TO READ A BOOK...

I really did just want to read a book…

You see it was one of those moaning grey, overcast kinda “Whys it not hot?” San Diego days that you get on the outskirts of June.

A book would be good, and then maybe sit in the sand and let life waft by as I soak up the rays of yesteryear through Old Hollywood, Pop Culture, Obscure California, Hidden treasures or where the glitz and glamour now reside after rolling off this mortal coil, whether of their own volition or some more sinister page turning mouth wateringly mysterious way!

I really did just want to read a book, you know and add to my repertoire of what my wife never fails to tell me is “useless information”, but with me life has a certain way of turning itself upon its heals and... despite knowledgeably choosing the country’s oldest continuously family operated and owned bookstore ( est. 1896 ) you know the one where they have the exact category you are looking for and the gentle folk who work there to guide you on your quest to finding what you are looking for…..

Warwick’s has its own History connected with Folklore and old Hollywood style goings on , William T Warwick born in Iowa in 1867, got his first job after graduating high school at the Des Moines Book Company and whether he dreamed of the lasting legacy or not I don’t know but before he knew it years flew by finding him married with two sons and a store bearing his own name in  Waterloo Iowa. Meanwhile…there’s that Hollywood “ism” , you know the one that pushes you into your own imagination and as with all great stories here’s the twist that you can’t make up, as noted …Meanwhile in La Jolla a new bookstore opened in 1902 mitigatingly operated by the duo of E.L. Redding and his wife Genevieve ( told you I couldn’t have thought of better Hollywood names) Originally situated on Cave Street and then moving to Wall Street before finding its resting place at 7816 Girard Ave ( pretty much where it abides today) the old store now demolished and replaced in 1985.

Sadly why we do this to our treasured memories is lost on me, but I digress… you’re probably more interested in the meet cute of the story, almost like this was taken out of the “You’ve got Mail” story plot and the little bookstore The Shop around the Corner fighting against Fox’s emporium…E.L suddenly passed away in 1934 and his wife Genevieve carried on operating the store alone until W.T Warwick sold up in Waterloo and traipsed across country to the San Diego sunshine to visit his sister, bought the store from Genevieve, renamed it Warwick’s and then married the girl !! I am for sure there was more to the meet cute than that, but history provides me with only so much detail, from afar

In the ever-developing script play adapted from real life in 1944 W.T. got himself bogged down in disputes over rent of the building and moved the store to 1038 Wall St. the building that now is home to Whisknladle, but here is where the legacy kicks in. As W.T. retired in 1950 and sold to his son Charles Wynn Warwick ( looks like end of the names using initials) and his lovely wife Louise, in 1952 they decided life would be better at the original location and relocated back to 7812 Girard Ave, the exact location I met the very helpful and somewhat mysterious L.J. LaFleur, (I tell you these names are awesome) the self-described “Clumsy Walker, Poet and Bookseller “ on this random Sunday afternoon in June. This erstwhile establishment has resided here since, though taking new on forms over the next generations and expanding, Charles Wynn had his son Bob and his wife Marian take over in 1964 ushering in the third generation. The spirit of 1976 took them to new heights and they expanded into the Burriston Shoes space next door, bringing us closer to fine, Bob turned the store to the fourth generation in 2001 his daughters Nancy and Cathy.

“Meanwhile Scene One Act One” again as is apt for cinema speak, not even this classic establishment had what I yearned for, the past, how it was formed and what it is today…. I was looking for Old Hollywood and its ilk, but, what found me instead, as I thought about the lunch I had waiting in the car, 
( Steak and Ale Pot Pie from Pop Pie,  #poppieco #inpiewecrust for those seeking to know what makes me tick, www.poppieco.com

 go give them a visit in University Height’s Steven and Gad ( at left with yours truly)   will expand your culinary pallet’s with a Green Hog as well as great craft coffee’s and sweet Chai’s or even crafty beer, maybe, just maybe, even a rhubarb crumble ice cream from Stella Jeans next door also owned and operated by these fine gentle giants……..  I fear I have driven down the proverbial rabbit trail)

....what found me was the madcap realization that, what I already had, was maybe unhealthily more than your average Joe should have rolling around the cranium, on this somewhat murky heavy-laden June gloom kind of a day. My cohort in crime this afternoon, the yet again self-described clumsy walker, poet and bookseller as aforementioned,  said  when I inquired if I was boring her with what it was I was looking for… you had me at Hello … not really that’s me just going Hollywood on you again,  my foray into the world I was looking for, rearing its beautiful topic again…you have me hanging on every word, you should write a book, have you ever thought of doing a Blog….

I really did just want to read a book “I love the English sky after long hot summer days, I like to run through the fields when they’ve finished making Hay" to quote the young one his ownself sir Cliff.... "I love meeting people that I’ve never met before…” Life’s mystery and finding it is a great challenge and though Douglas Adams would have us believe the answer to life the universe and everything is 42, I’m tending to want to float on the "fine art of surfacing"…. That moment where things are at peace with each other, your head floats calmly above the interruptions of the waves crashing at your footsteps, they don’t care they will keep crashing for eons after I take my exit cue, if this is that time for reflection on what I know and have seen  sharing it with others and including all of the Quark Strangeness’ and Charm I can muster, James Taylor you were absolutely correct in one sense, the secret to life is enjoying the passage of time and for those moments that have passed in my foray into my obscure made up i'm sure,genre, its with anticipation of recollection that I hope to share those experiences, and then maybe you too can become your own Gulliver and find the Lilliputian escape you need, even just a fifteen minute excursion to stare off a 70 ft hidden suspension bridge , or watch a movie next to Douglas Fairbanks, or tip your own ten gallon in respect to the Duke, even cut through a slot canyon on your own doorstep, or simply just finding that hidden in plain sight movie set you remember, well i'll borrow now some more lyrics as i end this first missive, this time from Steven Curtis Chapman and well “Wake the neighbor’s get the word out….” Or maybe the more apt  "Saddle up your horses we’ve got a trail to blaze."

I told you I was reading a book, right?

#bennysantiniproductions #grahamsataconcertagain