I first met Peter in Tokyo in 1990. I was walking along the streets of the Ginza when I spotted this man, dessed untidily (who am I to make a comment like this) , and wearing a tee shirt with the ABAA logo displayed. So I approached him and introduced myself as a bookseller from Sydney. He introduced me to his wife Allison and we became firm friends, He invited - no - demanded that I come and stay with him in California which I subsequently did.Peter and I met in many cities in the world and went scouting together. I loved his love of books and his knowledge and I had never met anyone like him and I am not expecting to.
His generosity was fantastic. If I was coming to San Francisco he would demand to know when my plane was arriving so he could pick me up and was offended when I did not give him the infomation. Sometimes I stayed in his house but more often I stayed in a hotel and this always caused him to berate me. He could not understand why I would stay in a hotel in preference to his house.
I spent a few hours with Peter the day after the last San Francisco Bookfair and we both knew that it was farewell and we said tender words to each other as we hugged as I was leaving.
Of course Peter was mad but I loved him and his madness inspired me. He could be rude and shout and he did shout at me more thn once but this shouting never upset me. And I used to laugh when Alison was present and she would chide him for his rudeness. Alison was the big part in their successful partnership and Peter would not have been the man he was without her. She provided a soft and gentle side to him and their love, care and concern for each other was always there to see.
Peter cared for his fellow booksellers and collected many eccentric and normal booksellers around him. He believed in bookselling as a great profession and in his eyes it was the most noble profession. He performed many acts of great generosity to booksellers and at times was almost a charity.
One of the great highlights of my bookselling career has been my friendship with this mad, eccentric, lovable and generous man.
I shall miss Peter.
Paul Feain
Cornstalk Bookshop
One day last September, Bill and I were staying at Peter's house. Bill looked out the window and said to me: "Isn't that Paul Feain?" You were walking up and down the street, looking for Peter's house. When we called you in, you said that you were just on your way home and decided to stop by. What you failed to mention was that you were on your way home from the ILAB Congress in Italy to Australia, and stopped into San Francisco and took a cab to Berkeley to see Peter on a whim. We all had lunch and you left later in the day. Peter was dying, and you took the opportunity to visit, thinking that it may be your last. Peter managed to hang on until the San Francisco book fair this past spring, but he basically went home from the fair, went to bed and never got up again. I remember that towards the end of the fair you told Peter that you loved him, and he said "WHAT BROUGHT THAT ON?". Rude and abrasive until the end. But I know why you told him that - he was dying and you were never going to see him again. He was more than just a great bookseller - he was a great man, and he influenced a great many people, and he influenced me so much that I wonder who I would have become if I had never met him. It's hard to write about a dead friend, but Peter was always dreadfully honest - some would say to a fault, but I wouldn't. I would say his honesty was him - it was what made him a great bookseller, but what also made him a great man, and a great friend. I shall miss him always.
ReplyDelete~ Michael John Thompson, sometime boookseller, Hornby Island, BC, Canada
July 29, 2011 1:17 AM