The Old Book Shop Dec 2008

I decided to visit one of my old haunts, the Old Book Shop in Morristown, NJ and called Fred Phillips to ask if he wanted to join me? We agreed to meet at Penn Station. To get there, you take the NJ Transit train on the Morris&Essex line to Morristown.. The one way fare for senior citizens is $4.75 which makes it pretty cheap, considering the distance. Having arrived at the station, we were not sure which way to go. I knew the old location, 75 Spring St, but they had moved to 4 John St. The old location, by the way, was a charming old building which was the site of Benedict Arnold's first court martial. The book shelves in the old place were stacked up old orange crates. We asked for directions from the local shop owners but most of them were Hispanics who didn't know from beans. Finally, we walked into a pub where a gentleman gave us excellent directions. It is about 1/2 miles from the station. Walking out of the NY bound side of the station, go left on Morris Ave. Then a left on Ridgedale Ave and then a right onto John St. You will shortly see a building with the number 4 prominently displayed on it. This however is not the site of the store, nor is the bail bondsman in the building behind. I could not imagine where the shop might be but decided to take a chance and walk further down John St. There, sharply down hill, in the basement of the bail bondsman, we found the store. The owner explained that all the buildings on John St, including another bail bondsman and the county jail, are all 4 John St. I was intrigued at the idea of there being two bail bondsmen in such close proximity and I asked the owner if he could recommend the better bondsman, in case my friends and I ever needed one? He seemed a little taken aback at my question and recommended that I never do anything to cause me to need the services of a bail bondsman. Is my sense of humor a little out of line? A little excessive? Great Science Fiction section. Most of the magazines were $1.00 or $2.00. I got a bunch of early 1950's F&SF magazines with Gavagans Bar stories by Sprague deCamp and Fletcher Pratt. There were many, many Ace Double novels. I did not even look at the hardcovers. Fred got himself a rare Robert E Howard book. I was tempted to get some of his huge selection of boys books, over 100 years old. Books like Tom Swift and his Motor-Cycle, Tom Swift and his Electric-Rifle, Tom Swift and his Gliding-Flyer. The shop is open 10-5:30, Mon-Sat. Tel 973-538-1210, oldbookshop@yahoo.com On departing the store, I yelled to the owner that it had been a business doing pleasure with him. He grimaced at me in return. Following the old Great Walling tradition of Fandom, we ate in a Chinese restaurant before we boarded the train back to NY.

From The Old Book Shop December 2008