Illustration by Chris 'Honeysuckle' Ellis.
I first met Harriette and Fred Beeson when Harriette and I worked together at The Book Shelf in Poplar Plaza in the 1980s. Ironically, briefly, I was her boss. She left to join Diana Crump at Burke’s Book Store, which, at that time, was located in the 600 block of Poplar, among the pawnshops. In 1984 Fred and Harriette bought the store from Diana.
I stayed to close down The Book Shelf; in 1988 it went out of business. I was engaged to be married and we had a child on the way. When we left for our honeymoon I was facing a future where neither of us had jobs. I enjoyed the trip but I fretted.
The day after Cheryl and I got home I woke to a ringing telephone. At the other end was Fred asking me if I’d like to come work for them at Burke’s. It was Destiny Calling. So, on April 1, 1988, I started working for the Beesons. Soon after that we moved the store to 1719 Poplar, expanding its successful textbook and used book business to include a larger selection of new books. I didn’t know it but I had walked into my future.
Harriette met John Grisham when he was hand-selling his first novel, A Time to Kill, and their friendship sparked a relationship between John and Burke’s Books that is ongoing.
Working with Harriette was a rich and rewarding experience. The store we developed was a success and we gradually built up a clientele, some of whom are still friends and customers. There are so many good memories from those years: the gracious dinners Harriette hosted at her house, where the food was to die for; the dinners out with Fred and Harriette and Cheryl (and sometimes authors); the signings and readings, including some with the finest writers of our day (where Harriette’s homemade brownies were often as acclaimed as our guests). It was a heady experience, and, at the heart of it was Harriette’s Southern sociability, her gentle authority, her charm, her ability to remember a person’s name and particulars after only one meeting, and her knowledge of books, new and old.
And then there were the Grisham signings. Many people already know the story of how Harriette met John when he was hand-selling his first novel, A Time to Kill, and how their friendship sparked a relationship between John and Burke’s that is ongoing. But perhaps not as many people know about the epic 13-hour signing, from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m., before we invented what became known as Grisham’s Laws, limiting the number who could attend. Nor is it well-known that after every Grisham signing we all — staff and volunteers — went to The Rendezvous for ribs, all on the store’s tab. John told me that when he heard of Harriette’s death, he smiled, remembering the good times we had.
The best thing that happened to me while working for Harriette was when we hired Cheryl Hodges, whom I already knew as a customer. I waited till she had worked for two weeks before asking her out, because I was expert at pacing romance. The rest is history. We fell in love and moved in together. We thought we had to keep it a secret from Harriette so we drove separate cars to work and we left each day, waving to each other, saying, “See you tomorrow.” Then we drove our two-car procession the three blocks to our house. We weren’t fooling Harriette, of course, but she was understanding enough not to tell us she knew.
Finally, when Cheryl gave birth to our daughter, Chloe, Harriette and Fred gave Cheryl a paid six months off. It was this kind of largesse that is Harriette’s legacy. She was a beautiful woman, generous, warm and wise, and fun to be with. She taught me a lot. When she hired me I felt like I joined her family. I miss her.
Harriette Beeson passed away September 20th in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where she and Fred had been living for years. Corey and Cheryl Mesler purchased Burke’s, now located at 936 S. Cooper, from her in 2000.
