At 4:30pm it was close to one hundred degrees outside and the A/C in The Children’s Bookstore was straining to keep up. Besides Jo Fruchtman (the owner, who introduced me to David Godine) and her small staff, there were three visitors – one of whom was my mother. Not a particularly august beginning for my first bookstore reading.
Fifteen minutes later, a group of about twenty-five had materialized, filling the small space and feeling very cozy. I sat on a large shelf in front of the wall of books Jo had arranged and began. It was easier than I had thought – just like chatting with a group of friends in the living room.
The Cone Sisters are, of course, famous around here, so I was preaching to the converted. Toward the close of my remarks, a lively discussion evolved, continuing into the actual book signing afterwards. Lots of people around here claim Cone lineage, or have friends and acquaintances who actually were related. Sitting on her walker in the middle of the group was a one hundred-year-old woman in a bright blue blouse. She was the wife of the allergist I had seen many times as a small child. (I remember his fanciful mustache and the twelve needles he stuck in my arm). She had visited the Cone collection when it was still in Etta and Claribel's apartments and charmed us all with her lovely account of being awed by what she saw on the walls there, so many years ago.
I think we could honestly say this book is for everyone – ages ten to one hundred.
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