Local Bookseller Honored With Association Scholarship

by Debra Lawless

            Ask Joanne and Caitlin Doggart if they read for pleasure, and both women laugh merrily.

            "You have more temptation and less time to indulge in it," Caitlin says.

            "I have books everywhere-- in my car, and in my bag. I read whenever I get a chance," Joanne says.

            The mother and daughter are sitting in comfortable chairs in front of the fireplace at Where the Sidewalk Ends Books, Gifts and Coffee on Main Street in Chatham, the bookstore they opened three years ago this Memorial Day. The store, which is in a 1988 post-and-beam barn, has hard wood floors, high ceilings and plenty of light filtering through tall windows. A coffee bar is set up by the entrance. The arrival of customers is announced by sleigh bells jingling on the door.

Caitlin and Joanne Doggart of Where the Sidewalks Ends Books. Joanne recently won a professional development award from the regional booksellers' organization, The New England Independent Booksellers Association.  DEBRA LAWLESS PHOTO

         Joanne and Caitlin are taking a few moments from their hectic day to talk about the professional development award Joanne won from the regional booksellers' organization, The New England Independent Booksellers Association (NEIBA). The $1,000 Isaac Epstein Scholarship will allow Joanne to travel next January to Salt Lake City to attend the American Booksellers Association's Winter Institute, two days of educational programs and networking.

            "I'm thrilled that NEIBA gave me this opportunity to attend the Winter Institute," Joanne says. "And I'm grateful to Caitlin for the nomination."

            The Winter Institute is "great for networking, for sharing ideas," Joanne says. "It brings fresh ideas. I have a lot to learn. And people can learn from me."

            There's a lot more to running a bookstore than meets the eye. You have to master the path through what Caitlin called, in her nomination letter to NEIBA, "a maze of imprints, distributors, and publishers." You will enter "an intimidating myriad of already established networking contacts [and] changing technology." And, she added, for Joanne "to take on all of the above with a diagnosis of cancer demonstrates a true commitment to a long-term dream."

            Joanne grew up in the Boston area and raised her family of three daughters there. About five years ago, when her husband Jim retired, Joanne and Jim moved to Chatham, where they had spent about 30 summers. Joanne had taught nursery school for 10 years, and harbored a passion for children's literature. "I always wanted to own a bookstore," she says. After exploring a number of options, the mother and daughter team learned that the building with its own parking lot at 432 Main St. was available.

            But along with the good news came devastating news.

            "I was diagnosed with breast cancer the same week we were coming into the building to renovate," Joanne recalls.

            "I wanted to abandon the whole idea," Caitlin says. At that time, Caitlin had recently returned from a stint teaching English in Spain, where she met her future husband.

            But Joanne plugged on, meeting with booksellers' representatives in between cancer treatments. "It was a crazy summer," she says. She now has a clean bill of health and the bookstore is about to enter its fourth season.

            The store took its name from Shel Silverstein's 1974 poem "There is a place where the sidewalk ends/ And before the street begins/ And there the grass grows soft and white/ And there the sun burns crimson bright."

            "When we were talking about the building, I said, 'it's right there at the end of the sidewalk,'" Caitlin recalls. "Our faces lit up at the same time. We couldn't resist the word play." And yes, the store carries Silverstein's book.

            This summer Joanne and Caitlin have planned a potpourri of literary events for adults and kids. For one thing, they have assumed the tradition of literary lunches that were sponsored for many years by Bess and Jack Moye of Cabbages and Kings Bookstore, which closed last October. Caitlin worked at Cabbages and Kings for a couple of summers while she was in college.

            "We are very excited about it," Joanne says. "Bess and Jack's lunches were always so fabulous."

            The Doggarts plan to host three or four "Literary Luncheons" at the Beach House Grill at Chatham Bars Inn this summer. The July 22 event will feature Sara Young of Chatham, author of "My Enemy's Cradle," Alice Hoffman and Ann Hood. And the Aug. 5 event will feature Jennifer Weiner, Michael Tonello and Elin Hilderbrand. In a new twist, the Doggarts will seat the authors among their fans, not at a separate authors' table. The event will be followed by a book signing.

            They will also run a series of children's story hours every Wednesday and Saturday morning, and a Fancy Nancy Tea Party at the Captain's House Inn on July 15. Bob Staake, Jennifer Eldredge Stello and Sally Gunning are among many local authors who will have in-store book signings; and a Sunday night series of non-fiction talks is being planned.

            Most of the events are free; the literary brunches are $40 and the Fancy Nancy Tea Party is $18. For tickets or more information, call Joanne or Caitlin at the bookstore at 508-945-0499.