Cody's Books (19562008) was an

independent bookstore An independent bookstore is a retail bookstore which is independently owned. Usually, independent stores consist of only a single actual store (although there are some multi-store independents). They may be structured as sole proprietorships, ...

based in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. It "was a pioneer in bookselling, bringing the paperback revolution to Berkeley, fighting censorship, and providing a safe harbor from tear gas directed at anti-

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

protesters throughout the 1960s and 1970s." (archived)

History

The first store opened in 1956 on Euclid Avenue in

. It was founded by Fred (1916–1983) and Pat (1923–2010) Cody. It moved to a larger location on

Telegraph Avenue Telegraph Avenue is a street that begins, at its southernmost point, in the midst of the historic Downtown Oakland, downtown district of Oakland, California, and ends, at its northernmost point, at the southern edge of the University of Califo ...

in 1960. As the business expanded, it outgrew this property too. In 1962, Steve Van Strum joined the staff and built up the French and German book sales. In 1964, Van Strum's investment counsellor father put in a bid for an old gas station on a corner lot nearby. The bid was successful and the father gave the Codys and his son a free hand to design a building fit for a good bookshop, one with high ceilings, plenty of light and soft wood and textiles to surround the books. Steve Van Strum created a poetry festival in the Spring of 1965 with an unusually large collection of 1,000 poetry titles on exhibit and on sale and poets reading on site. The bookshop moved to the new building in 1965, it becoming the largest store dedicated to paperbacks in the area. Van Strum was key to the growing international connections of the book store, attending the Frankfurt Book Fair and liaising with Oxford University Press. He left, with his wife Carol Van Strum and children, in 1968 after which the Codys once again had the total responsibility of managing the store. In 1968, "Cody's served as a first-aid station ��when anti-war protesters were tear gassed and clubbed just outside its Telegraph Avenue doors ��the store's employees were tending the woundedanti-war protesters teargassed and clubbed by the police and the National Guard as protests broke out on Telegraph Avenue." In the early 1970s, Mario Savio worked as a clerk at the Telegraph Avenue store. In 1977, the Codys sold the store to Andy Ross, who owned it until 2006. Cody's was best known for its extensive selection of poetry, literary, political, and scholarly titles. On February 28, 1989, unknown persons threw a firebomb through the window of the store. It was thought that this was in response to the prominent display of

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's ''

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'', which had been banned by a

fatwa A fatwa (; ; ; ) is a legal ruling on a point of Islamic law (sharia) given by a qualified Islamic jurist ('' faqih'') in response to a question posed by a private individual, judge or government. A jurist issuing fatwas is called a ''mufti'', ...

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ian

cleric Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

s one month prior. An undetonated pipe bomb was subsequently discovered in the store. In response the staff unanimously voted to keep the book on display despite the attack and the increasing willingness of chain bookstores to bow to pressure to withdraw it. Cody's pioneered a well-regarded author-reading series. Some prominent authors and notables who appeared at Cody's were:

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Alice Walker Alice Malsenior Tallulah-Kate Walker (born February 9, 1944) is an American novelist, short story writer, poet, and social activist. In 1982, she became the first African-American woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, which she was awa ...

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Maurice Sendak Maurice Bernard Sendak (; June 10, 1928 – May 8, 2012) was an American author and illustrator of children's books. Born to Polish-Jewish parents, his childhood was impacted by the death of many of his family members during the Holocaust. Send ...

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, and

. In the 1980s, Cody's was a plaintiff in several anti-trust lawsuits charging that independent book sellers were discriminated against in favor of chain stores. Cody's owner, Andy Ross, was a prominent spokesperson supporting independent businesses against chain stores and Internet retailers.

Neighborhood booksellers

Cody's was a core bookseller among a coterie of independent booksellers, which included Moe's Books (located nearly next door to Cody's), , Shakespeare & Co., Black Oak Books, Diesel, and others, all located in the region from North Berkeley to North Oakland. This region includes the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

. Together they were members of a significant regional supporter of independent bookselling, The Northern California Independent Bookseller's Association, or NCIBA.

Moves and closure

The Telegraph store was the flagship store until it closed in 2006, sparking a controversy in the local press over the cause. One explanation given for the closure was that it was caused by pressure from corporate chains like

Borders A border is a geographical boundary. Border, borders, The Border or The Borders may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * ''Border'' (1997 film), an Indian Hindi-language war film * ''Border'' (2018 Swedish film), ...

. The location remained vacant until 2016, when "Mad Monk, Center for Anachronistic Media" was opened, and operated for two years. The Cody's

San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

location closed in 2007 for a similar reason. Cody's was sold to Japanese book distributor Yohan, Inc. in September 2006. In March 2008, the last remaining store moved from 4th Street to its final location on Shattuck Avenue due to a rent increase. Financial pressures forced the closure of the store for good on June 20, 2008. The 2008

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

TV documentary '' Paperback Dreams'' chronicles the related histories of

Kepler's Books Kepler's Books and Magazines is an independent bookstore in Menlo Park, California. It was founded on May 14, 1955 by Roy Kepler, a peace activist who had endured multiple internments as a conscientious objector during World War II. Kepler previou ...

Menlo Park, California Menlo Park ( ) is a city at the eastern edge of San Mateo County, California, San Mateo County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, California, Eas ...

and Cody's Books.

Timeline

Stores: * Euclid Avenue, Berkeley, 1956–1960 * Telegraph Avenue and Dwight, Berkeley, 1960–1965 * 2454

at Haste Street, Berkeley, 1965July 10, 2006 * 2 Stockton Street,

, 2005–2007 * 1730 4th St., Berkeley 1997–March 2008 * 2201 Shattuck Ave.,

Downtown Berkeley Downtown Berkeley is the central business district of the city of Berkeley, California, United States, around the intersection of Shattuck Avenue and Center Street, and extending north to Hearst Avenue, south to Dwight Way, west to Martin Luther ...

April 1, 2008 – June 19, 2008 then a final sale starting from August 14–August 22 or August 23, 2008

References

External links

Cody's Books: Paperback Dreams
(archived) *
Last Cody's Bookstore Bids Farewell to Berkeley
- ''

The Daily Californian ''The Daily Californian'' (''Daily Cal'') is an independent, student-run newspaper that serves the University of California, Berkeley, campus and its surrounding community. History 20th century ''The Daily Californian'' became independent fro ...

'' {{coords, 37.8658, -122.2589, display=title Bookstores in the San Francisco Bay Area Independent bookstores of the United States Companies based in Berkeley, California Culture of Berkeley, California History of the San Francisco Bay Area American companies established in 1956 Bookstores established in the 20th century Retail companies established in 1956 Retail companies disestablished in 2008 1956 establishments in California 2008 disestablishments in California Defunct companies based in the San Francisco Bay Area Defunct retail companies of the United States