The majority of the books featured in this newsletter were recently acquired from the estate of Melvin Bentley, a dear friend and longtime regular at AVB. Tragically, he lost his battle with cancer two years ago. Melvin was an avid reader and collector of HP Lovecraft, Edward Gorey and Sherlock Holmes, to name a few. For years, he spent every Saturday morning sitting at our table with a snack packed in his
Edgar Allen Poe lunch tin and a big stack of books.
He was part of our bookstore family and we miss him dearly.
Melvin's thirst for knowledge was fostered by his aunt, an educator at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee School, in Rabun Gap, Georgia. The school is notable for initiating the Foxfire magazine project in 1966 and for its influence in experiential education. Our purchase of his collection will benefit a trust
to establish a scholarship at the school in her name.
We are working each day to research and catalogue this impressive collection, which is comprised of genres from horror to classics and includes collectibles
and specialty publishers.
Stay tuned as we share details.
We are proud that Melvin's spirit will continue to thrive inside our store.
