Dylan Thomas's Birthday Has Come and Gone

It was Dylan Thomas's birthday Saturday. I spent too much time fussing around trying to figure out a Dylan Thomas quote of the day for the sandwich board. I liked --

When one burns one's bridges, what a very nice fire it makes.

(And if one burns one's books?)

I also liked --

An alcoholic is someone you don't like who drinks as much as you do.

(That one helps me put the liquor store across the street into perspective.)

I really liked --

The function of posterity is to look after itself.

This one helped me get over my missprotherosbooks.com blues. Let the Internet look after itself. I need to look after this bookstore day by day, customer by customer, writer by poet, reader by reader. After all, I don't have exclusive rights to the Prothero name. There are thousands of people in Wales who have a stronger right. There is even a zine publisher and book dealer in West Denver who has a stronger right. (Stevyn Prothero's bookstore on West 38th is called Iron Feather.)

While I'm looking after things, I wanted to write a quick note about Robert Slentz-Kessler. He's a young writer who cannot and should not be ignored. His first novel -- Sylvia, Rachel, Meredith, Anna -- touches on memory, music and Fort Benning. I have copies in the store and in my biblio.com listings. You can also order a copy through Thatcher Forest Publishing.

Would You Like Anything to Read?

If you've been wondering, but have been afraid to ask...Miss Prothero is a character from Dylan Thomas's A Child's Christmas in Wales. She's Jim Prothero's maiden aunt who says the right thing always, who upon seeing a "wet, smoky room" and three tall firemen asks her guests if they'd like anything to read. She's a woman who knows a good book is a great solution to any situation.

At the store, she's just a topic of conversation. Some people want to know if I am her and she is me. When I say no, they always seem disappointed. But then they find her hat and cape in the back room and they put it on, they seem to understand who she is and isn't a little better. She is a piece of imagination, a bit of you, and a large portion of anybody you want her to be.
-NW