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OBIT: Barbara Cole, 91; proprietor of beloved La Jolla bookstore
For those unaware, John Cole's Book Shop remains one of the few places with a diverse selection of Baja California-related material....
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20040720/news_1m20co...
By Jack Williams
STAFF WRITER
July 20, 2004
To generations of visitors to her landmark family bookstore, Barbara Cole was more than a hands-on owner with a personal touch.
Mrs. Cole was the keeper of a tradition and a cultural and commercial link to old La Jolla.
"She was the grande dame of booksellers," said Dennis Wills, owner of D.G. Wills Books a few blocks away.
Mrs. Cole, who opened John Cole's Book Shop in La Jolla with her husband in 1946, died yesterday in her La Jolla home. She was 91.
She had suffered a heart attack in mid-January and died of congestive heart failure, said her daughter, Susan Oliver.
Although no longer a presence at the Prospect Street shop, Mrs. Cole had been helping with the day-to-day business and ordering books until the day
before her death, Oliver said.
"If you were an old-time La Jollan, you knew Barbara," said Eva Ewing, a friend since the 1940s. "She was well-loved by the whole town."
Since 1966, the bookstore has been housed in the Wisteria Cottage, which was built on Prospect Street in 1898 by the Scripps family. The store's
original site was in an old house at 7871 Ivanhoe St. with an attic for children's books.
"One of my girlfriends got engaged in that attic," Ewing said. "Barbara's husband used to sit in front of the fireplace, smoke his pipe and talk about
old books."
The Coles originally called their store John Cole's Book and Craft Shop. Mrs. Cole, who had intended to sit at the front window and weave to catch the
eyes of passersby, soon discovered that her husband needed her for more pressing duties.
John Cole, who had begun his career in the book business at a Chicago department store, died of a heart attack in 1959.
After moving the business to Prospect Street because the original site was displaced by a bank, Mrs. Cole preserved the homey charm with old furniture
and fixtures and folk art. She would host receptions and poetry readings and display sculptures on the front lawn.
"The shop is like walking into an 'Alice in Wonderland' setting," Wills said. "It reminds me in a sense of a hometown grocer's business in the old
towns of Europe. It's a one-of-a-kind place because of that beautiful setting, and Barbara's customers were loyal to her."
One of Mrs. Cole's first friends among local authors was Ted Geisel, the "Dr. Seuss" of children's books fame. A scrapbook she kept of the history of
her store shows pictures of Geisel dating to 1950.
It also includes a letter from him thanking her for a gift: a wind-up dancing duck, the kind she kept in her store.
Mrs. Cole nurtured those longtime relationships, among authors and patrons.
"She knew what clients liked," Oliver said. "She would write them personal notes and call them. Some clients who remembered the old book shop and the
attic would bring their grandchildren into the store (on Prospect Street)."
Zachary Cole, Mrs. Cole's grandson, said his grandmother was an inspiration to him when he joined the family business. He and his father, Charles
Cole, have taken over the management role.
"With her smile and warmth, you couldn't help but talk to her," Zachary Cole said. "She would tell you all about the history of La Jolla. She knew
everything."
Mrs. Cole, a native of Evanston, Ill., met her husband in Chicago.
"They were friends for about 13 years before they were married in 1943," Oliver said.
Before World War II, she worked for a while at a bookstore in New Haven, Conn. When her husband was overseas in the Army, she worked for the Army map
service in Washington, D.C., Oliver said.
The Coles originally wanted to open a bookstore in upstate New York. Instead, they chose La Jolla, intrigued by the beauty and climate.
Mrs. Cole, who had loved sailing on the East Coast, embraced the La Jolla lifestyle. She became enamored of Baja California, featuring many books on
the area in her store. Each birthday ? Dec. 26 ? would find her whale watching off the San Diego coast.
She was active in the San Diego and La Jolla historical societies, the Wednesday Club and the Athenaeum Music & Arts Library.
"She had a very full life," Oliver said. "She was outgoing and energetic. Even toward the end, in a wheelchair, she wanted to do things and she never
complained."
In addition to her daughter, who lives in Mexico City, survivors include son, Charles Cole of La Jolla; two grandchildren; and two
great-grandchildren.
A celebration of life is pending.
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Neal Johns
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Posts: 1687
Registered: 10-31-2002
Location: Lytle Creek, CA
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Mood: In love!
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Great store, hope it keeps going. Sounds like Barbara had a good life.
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The end.
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/rowe/20050116-9999-...
Mission San Diego: Final chapter at Cole's reads like the loss of a La Jolla institution
By Peter Rowe
January 16, 2005
LA JOLLA ? Thanks to its going-out-of-business sale, John Cole's Book Shop looks as picked-over as a Christmas tree lot on Dec. 26. Even in John
Cole's heyday, though, this place didn't stock many of the items found in other major book stores.
There were a few best sellers, but none piled up in floor-to-ceiling pyramids.
No lattes.
No DVDs. No Top 40 CDs.
You couldn't browse its Web site for the latest Stephen King or J.K. Rowling. That's because there's no Web site.
For more than 58 years, though, there was Barbara Cole. And that was enough.
"Mother hand-picked every book," said Susan Oliver, Barbara and John Cole's daughter.
"She'd look at the catalogs and say, 'Oh, so-and-so would like this one,' " added Charles Cole, Oliver's brother and the booksellers' son. "She knew
what her customers liked, so she could order for people even before they asked for the book."
"There was a continuity here," Oliver said. "More than 50 years here. It's a lifetime."
Barbara Cole's lifetime ended July 19. She was 91. Charles and his son, Zachary, continued the day-to-day operations, but the store had suffered a
body blow. Within weeks, the Coles had lost their lease. The store will close for good Jan. 29.
In an era of megastores and online emporiums, a shop that operated in a 19th-century cottage and offered personalized, 20th-century service was as
outdated as a nickel paperback. The bookselling trade had evolved, making John Cole's a dinosaur.
Like many extinct creatures, though, this bookasaurus was a beauty.
Visiting an old friend
John Cole's is often described as a La Jolla institution, serving the same function for readers as Windansea does for surfers. But the shop's roots
lie across the nation.
John Cole learned the trade in Chicago, where his mother operated a children's book store. In the 1930s, he began dating Barbara Cameron Todd, from
Evanston, Ill.; her background included work in a New Haven, Conn., bookstore. After Pearl Harbor, he enlisted, and she joined the Army Map Service.
In 1943, these patriotic bibliophiles married.
In 1946, they moved west, opening John Cole's Book and Craft Shop in a house on La Jolla's Ivanhoe Avenue. The couple read to kids while sitting by
the fireplace; stashed used books in the attic; and watched their own kids play in the back yard.
Susan Oliver, now 54, remembers sitting in a crib as her mother wrestled with packages of books. "She would put them across the top of the crib and
just wrap them up."
A heart attack killed John Cole in 1959, but the store continued in his name. In 1966, the shop moved. Charles and Susan hated the notion of
abandoning the old place on Ivanhoe ? until they stepped into the new place.
This is the store's current location, 780 Prospect St., "Wisteria Cottage." Atop a grassy rise with a view of the Pacific, the 1898 house had been
built for the Scripps family. Ellen Revelle, who offered the place to Barbara Cole in 1966, has remained the shop's landlord and supporter ever since.
"She's been wonderful all this time," Oliver said. "She's been a dear friend of mom's and a friend to all of us."
Perhaps this good fellowship explains the shop's loose-limbed, take-off-your-shoes-and-sit-a-spell atmosphere. Walking in, you don't feel like a
customer. You feel like an old friend of a well-established and well-read family, stopping for a chat.
Step into the kitchen and browse the cookbooks. Into the small back bedroom, for the children's books. For decades, somewhere in the house/shop you
would find Barbara Cole, who would remember your name and your reading habits.
"She had a computer in her head that was unbelievable," Oliver said.
From the beginning, the store offered more than books. John Cole's has sold Mexican folk art, Beatles collectibles, harmonicas and handmade toys.
The front yard is large enough for a game of touch football, or a smattering of world-class sculpture, often on loan from the nearby Tasende Gallery.
Today, the seaside view is being enjoyed by a reclining Henry Moore nude; she has been preceded by works of Auguste Rodin and Nikki de Saint Phalle.
But no cappuccino bar? And you call this a bookstore?
Horses on the lawn
These days, the atmosphere at Wisteria Cottage is, well, seriously weird. Imagine a funeral home that also operates an upscale flea market. Customers
are also mourners, coming in to bargain-hunt and to take one last gander at the dearly departing.
"We just want to say how awful this is," sighed Madeline Kane, a La Jolla resident and one of the founders of the Kane/Miller publishing house,
commiserating with Oliver.
"We're sad you guys are closing," said Linda Carmichael Gamble, vacationing here from Maine. "I grew up in La Jolla and used to come here when I was a
little kid. This is where I got a whole bunch of books signed by Dr. Seuss."
Barbara Cole used to send boxes of Dr. Seuss books to Theodor Geisel, the author himself, who would sign and return them. The shop's scrapbook
contains numerous birthday cards and letters from this kid lit icon.
Dr. Seuss wasn't the only one to fall under Barbara Cole's spell. Marguerite Henry, author of "Misty of Chincoteague" and "Justin Morgan Had a Horse,"
held a book signing on the shop's lawn ? with five horses. Maurice Sendak, Leo Lionni, Scott O'Dell and other writers browsed here, as did architect
Louis Kahn, Sigourney Weaver and Jimmy Durante.
But most of the customers were non-celebrity locals, including families with multigenerational loyalties to John Cole's.
"You can't imagine that it won't be here any more," said Kira Lynn, Madeline Kane's daughter and now the head of Kane/Miller. "I definitely grew up
here."
Before the close-out sale, business had been good but not great. In recent years, Charles Cole noticed increasing numbers of browsers who would jot
down the titles and authors of attractive books. "Then they would order them online," he said.
Customers defected to the Borders and Barnes & Nobles of the world, stores that promised every book instead of the perfect just-for-you book.
Warehouse stores began selling best sellers at steep discounts ? "I still don't know how they do that," Charles said. Even the cottage's breathtaking
location has its drawbacks. Why mess with La Jolla's meandering, traffic-choked lanes when chain stores with huge parking lots beckon near freeway
offramps?
Wisteria Cottage, at least, appears to be safe. Its designation as a historic landmark should protect it from demolition; there are rumors that the
neighboring La Jolla Historical Society has its eyes on the property.
As for Barbara and John Cole's children, Susan Oliver looks forward to returning to her husband and children at their home in Mexico City; Charles
Cole is mulling several business opportunities, including a foray into publishing.
So this store's demise is not a tragedy. Or is it? Some day soon, perhaps over a decaf mocha grande, book lovers may be afflicted with an
uncomfortable realization. Wisteria Cottage may be saved, but much of the spirit that animated it for decades will be lost.
"It's just overwhelming," Madeline Kane said, her arms loaded with books.
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Popular volumes through the years at Cole's
http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/passages/20050116-9999-lz...
January 16, 2005
One day in 1969, a lanky guy entered John Cole's Book Shop, cracked open a hardback ? it was the new best seller, "The Andromeda Strain" ? whipped out
a pen and began to scrawl.
"Young man!" Barbara Cole yelled. "You can't write in that book!"
"But," sputtered Michael Crichton, the medical thriller's author, "it's my book!"
John Cole's sold a few books that, like "Andromeda Strain," topped The New York Times best-seller list. But this one-of-kind bookery specialized in
one-of-a-kind books. Peter Rowe: The end.
While no one kept records, Susan Oliver, one of John Cole's co-owners, noted that these 10 books were among the shop's most popular.
1. "The Cat in the Hat," Dr. Seuss (1957). While writing this book, Theodor "Dr. Seuss" Geisel batted around rhymes with John Cole, the shop's late
founder. The store sold autographed first editions for years, then thousands of reprints. "It's been a steady, steady, steady seller," Oliver said.
2. "George Washington's World," Genevieve Foster (1941). This classic children's book was one of Barbara Cole's favorites.
3. "Pagoo," Holling C. Holling (1957). The story of a hermit crab and his adventures in a tide pool. Holling spun this popular kids' yarn while living
in La Jolla.
4. "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz: A Commemorative Pop-Up," L. Frank Baum and Robert Sabuda (illustrator) (2001). Sabuda, sometimes described as a "paper
engineer," has issued a series of pop-up books. Oliver on his venture into Oz: "Incredible."
5. "Earth From Above," Yann Arthus-Bertrand (1999). Dazzling photos of a fascinating planet.
6. "The Cave Paintings of Baja California," Harry Crosby (1975). A pioneering look at a lost culture's art, from a local writer-explorer.
7. "Into a Desert Place: A 3,000 Mile Walk Around the Coast of Baja California," Graham Macintosh (1995). Possessed of a dry wit and self-deprecating
manner, the English author was a popular speaker at the shop.
8. "Zoom," Istvan Banyai (1995). This wordless book engages in visual hocus-pocus, as the reader ? viewer? ? zooms from scene to scene.
9. "Torrey Pines: Landscape and Legacy," Bill Evarts (1995). Perhaps the best single volume on this unique tree.
10. "Masters of Surf Photography: Jeff Divine," (2001). Breathtaking shots from Divine, a former Surfer magazine photo editor ? and former John Cole's
Book Shop clerk.
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