Ken Do

[Anniversary] Sept. 28 marked the culminating event in a month of events celebrating a decade worth of events at Ken Sanders Rare Books. Ten years ago this fall saw the opening of the current incarnation on 2nd East downtown—you know the white box of a building, complete with overhead garage door, that supplies an authenticity to the increasingly hip East Broadway neighborhood? Although September also marked notable anniversaries for Sanders’ publishing house Dream Garden Press (27 years), Cosmic Aeroplane Bookstore (31 years) and Ken Sanders Rare Books itself (17 years), this month-long celebration was aimed directly at the store and its decade of music, readings, art exhibitions and other various extravaganzas.

The month started out with author Will Bagley discussing the 150th anniversary of the Mountain Meadows Massacre, and readings by wilderness authors Doug and Andrea Peacock, the former being the inspiration for Edward Abbey’s character “Hayduke” in The Monkey Wrench Gang. Other notable appearances included author Rick Bass, musicians Gentry Densley and the Chisolm Brothers, artists Trent Call and Leia Bell, and poets Melissa Bond and Gino Sky.

Even if you didn’t get out to any of the above-noted events, you should be kicking yourself if you didn’t make the effort to attend Friday’s celebration. Not only were those in attendance treated to the rambling exaltations of wordsmith Alex Caldiero, radio producer Scott Carrier bestowed some pieces of audio tape upon the crowd, several of which represented unaired portions of his Peabody Award winning series Crossing Borders. As a proverbial cherry on top of 10 years, journalist and prose stylist extraordinaire Charles Bowden read excerpts from his forthcoming book Café Blood, only pausing to respond to Sanders’ query of why he stoops to penning for glossy rags such as GQ?
“Three dollars a word,” came the reply.

Luckily, this town won’t have to wait for another anniversary to be treated to such happenings. Ken Sanders is happy to provide them year-round. (Jacob Stringer)