Be kind. One of the best reasons, apart from innate rightness, is that we don’t know the burdens other people carry. Yes, some will tell us and others will not, but one thing is certain: we all bear scars. I met Andrew Laties because of the Easton Book Festival that he organized. Andy is half-owner of Book and Puppet Company, an independent bookstore in that town. A colleague of mine from Lafayette College introduced us back in 2019. Whenever I go to Easton I stop in the store and pick something up. Andy has kindly slotted me into each annual Book Festival, except last year, because of a burden I happened to be carrying. I recently finished his book, co-authored with his son Samuel, Son of Rebel Bookseller: A Very Large Homework Assignment. Andy had revealed one of his burdens before I read it, and I appreciated the slight cushioning of the shock.
Samuel is a posthumous co-author. I have had friends—too many—who have lost children. It is a devastating blow. I’d casually chatted with Andy for five years without realizing he had this to bear. This book is an unflinching stare at the unfairness of life. You get a good idea of what Sam must’ve been like, through his writing and his father’s description. His brilliance is evident, even as we learn of his mental illness. The two often go together, and even contemporary successful authors, such as John Green, have revealed their mental struggles to the world. There are many great writers, like Edgar Allan Poe, who clearly had some issues. The stigma must disappear. Our culture would be so very poverty-bound without it.
Son of Rebel Bookseller is available on Bookshop.org. Or, if you’re in Easton you can stop into the shop. The title makes reference to Andy’s previous book, Rebel Bookseller, which I mentioned here a couple years back. This, however, is a much more personal story. An anguish screaming to be released. Something that I’ve picked up on during editorial board meetings at work is that books by authors with a compelling personal story have something special about them. They may not end up published by the Big Five, and they may really find only a local readership. That doesn’t mean, however, that they can’t have an impact. The vast majority of books have limited readerships, and some of them are far more important than those that line bestseller lists. And this one reminds me once again the importance of kindness, and striving to be as humane as a human can be.
