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| NELSON ALGREN CHAIR: Raffle By Sag Harbor Bookstore |
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"Reassured by Shelter Island poet Dan Moran that 'its history has outlived the chair,' we agreed to accept Dan's offer of a new chair to replace the well worn but storied 'Nelson Algren' chair, a fixture in the biography section of the shop since 1980," notes Canio's co-owner Kathryn Szoka. At
first a weekend enterprise, Canio's Books (www.caniosbooks.com)
quickly became a fixture on the literary scene, in part due to the
remarkably engaging personality of Pavone - easily one of the most
beloved figures on the literary landscape regionally for two decades,
with a reputation for gentleness, culture and generosity - and in
part, due to the "When Canio Pavone first opened, Algren lived around the corner and donated his books to help get the shop started," notes Szoka, who along with co-owner Maryann Calandrille purchased the bookstore from Pavone upon his retirement in 1999. "Algren gave the first reading in May 1981 just after winning an award from the Academy of American Arts and Letters. Algren read from the green-brown tweed swivel rocker that Canio had bought at a yard sale." It signaled the advent of a touchstone for literature on the East End of Long Island that has remained a key drop-in place for over two decades - and at the same time, was to be one of the very last public appearances for Algren, who died in Sag Harbor of a heart attack on May 9, 1981. Algren
(1909-1981) was born in Detroit, but lived for a number of years
in Chicago. He won the first National Book Award for fiction in
1950 for "The Man With The Golden Arm," which was later made into
a film, starring Frank Sinatra. It was Chicago which inspired Algren,
like the writer James T. Farrell, more than any other city. He In all, Algren published four novels and over fifty short stories, poetry, criticism, and travel books - including A Walk On The Wild Side. Here's an Algren quote from "Chicago: City On The Make." By
nights when the yellow salamanders of the El bend all one way and
the cold rain runs with the red-lit rain. Over the years, innumerable literary figures - from the famous to the hopeful - have rested, read and napped in the comfy old chair. "Studs Turkel, a friend of Algren, regaled customers one afternoon from the very same chair. Margaret Atwood signed books from the spot last summer," says Szoka. But as might be expected, with two decades of regular use the Nelson Algren chair has become somewhat over-comfortable, "a bit rough around the edges." "Sad as we are to see the chair go, we're thrilled with the new cushy burgundy rocker Dan brought in," says Calandrille. To celebrate the changing of the chairs, Canios is selling raffle tickets ($5.00 each or 6 for $25.00), probably through August 2003, for a chance to own the "Nelson Algren" chair. The drawing will coincide with an Algren appreciation night later this season. Part of the proceeds will benefit the John Steinbeck Memorial Statue Fund in Sag Harbor. "The chair could use a new slipcover, but purists won't want to change a thread," says Calandrille. Other provisos? "You may want to note that it's losing its stuffing," she notes. Also, the chair will have to be picked up in Sag Harbor by the winner. "We won't be able to deliver it, I'm afraid." Other
than that, it's a treasure for those who have an appreciation for
such things. "It would make a great conversation piece in a guest
cottage, library, or den, and be the envy of Algren fans everywhere," Raffling off "Nelson Algren's Chair" - and the appreciation night - is not the only way that Canio's Books is engaged in presreving the legacy of its famous patron. Algren titles currently in the shop include Man with the Golden Arm and Never Come Morning. "We also have an out of print collectible by Algren entitled America Eats, ($20.) a report on the foodways of the Midwest, a project sponsored by the WPA," says Szoka.
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