Bookstore is a "spider's web" attracting a diverse crowd
By ERIC LUDY
DCN Reporter
Sunhillow Books on Fourth Street is a mess.
Plastic toys and stuffed animals are scattered about the floor. An exotic bird named Marco Polo lands at random on the shoulders of unsuspecting patrons. Socialist magazines and radical agrarian journals sit unorganized on shelves near Oprah Magazine and Vogue.
The regulars don't seem to mind, though. They come here for the conversation. And Kate Hart, the owner, is more than happy to oblige them.
"I'm like a fat spider on a web waiting for intelligent people," says Kate, "and a lot of intelligent and interesting people wander into this place."
That's why Kate bought the store seven years ago. She likes books (the store is made up of her collection of more than 5,000 of them) and being around people who share her passion.
In that respect, Kate's store has been a huge success. It's become a hangout for local writers and intellectuals, who come and go in a steady stream all day, rarely purchasing anything, but always stopping to chat before moving on.
Today, Ed Gleeson, the owner of Carmody's Irish Pub, stops by, and talks to Kate about his childhood in Ireland. Local author Char Bruns shows up for a book signing of his new novel, “Odd Fish,� and chats casually with customers about fishing on Lake Superior. Local poet Jimmy Henry walks in, parking the bicycle that brought him all the way out here from Portland, Ore., on the floor in front of Kate at the counter.
"Hey Kate, I just wrote this poem last night about moving to Minnesota. You wanna hear it?" asks Jimmy.
"Of course," says Kate.
Jimmy reads his poem, a humorous but biting account of Northern Minnesota from an outsider's perspective. He then hangs around for a while, chatting with Kate about Charles Bukowski, Hunter Thompson, and other writers. He then walks out the door and pedals away.
With so much conversation but so few sales, Kate doesn't see a profit doing what she does. She's accumulated some debt, she says, and she's thought about some day selling the store to go teach on an Indian reservation in Arizona. That's her old profession. She used to be a high school science teacher in Vermont.
"I'm tired," says Kate, "And I can't do this forever. A lot goes into running a little store like this."
For now though, Kate says she won't be going anywhere. She has her three custodial grandchildren to look after: 5-year-old Joseph, 3-year-old Sean, and 15-month-old Arriana. They can often be found wandering the store, amusing themselves with toys, stuffed animals, and whatever else they can find.
"They're a handful," says Kate, "but they've grown on me."