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Published on 08/25/1999 All articles from this issue

The Book Nest celebrates 21 years of good reading

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By Carolyn Barnes

Special to the Town Crier

Business Profile

Ed Schmitz, owner of the Book Nest on Second Street in Los Altos, feels optimistic about the fate of books.

"The book as we know it will remain a strong contender, because of its portability and flexibility," Schmitz said, his shop-cat Roxie asleep on his desk. He finds that when people spend all day looking at a computer screen, the last thing they want to do is spend more time reading online.

"And people travel or have second homes where they want to read a good book. Even though you can read anything online, from the Bible to the latest newspaper, people enjoy relief from the computer," he said.

Cookbooks, history, travel, health and fitness, children's classics - his Los Altos customers know they can always find appealing titles in the little house on Second Street.

"What's notable is the consistency of what our customers ask for over the years - I always hear, 'I'd like a good mystery,' or 'I want a good biography,'" Schmitz said. "But there have been nuances, like the great interest in science fiction during the '70s and early '80s and the enthusiasm now for books about health and fitness."

The friendly bookseller even accommodates occasional requests for "books by the yard," from local decorators creating instant personal libraries. "And some people come in and ask for so many red books, blue books, and green books, according to their color scheme," Schmitz laughed.

His more literary customers come from all over the Bay Area to browse through the Book Nest's cozy rooms, furnished with Oriental rugs and comfortable chairs.

"My wife Anne-Marie and I had seen a bookshop in Pacific Grove located in an old house, and we hoped to duplicate that atmosphere in Los Altos," Schmitz said. Even though the house on Second Street wasn't officially for sale, they were able to buy it in 1978, opening the first used bookstore in town. Both husband and wife had fallen in love with book collecting after taking classes on John Steinbeck at Foothill College from Maury Dunbar, who eventually became a good friend.

Schmitz carries Dunbar's book, "Hooked on Books" (Smart's Publishing Group, San Mateo, 1997,$24.95), a guide for novice book collectors and a distillation of a lifetime devoted to fine books. Also for sale at the Book Nest is Anne-Marie Schmitz's prize-winning book, "In Search of Steinbeck," dedicated to her husband and to Dunbar, the result of their shared enthusiasm for Steinbeck.

"A specialty of ours is first editions," Ed Schmitz said. "I list a lot of my better books on the Internet and log in in the morning to check my orders. You have to do that now."

He enjoys locating out-of-print and hard-to-find books for customers via Internet. "A lady came in looking for an old geneology book with the names of family members in it. I found it in Boston, where it had been published by a vanity press. She had been looking for years for a copy on her own."

Another pleasure is watching customers as they follow their book-collecting obsessions. "One local customer collected several thousand books about the Civil War over 15 years. Then he switched to Napoleon. Now he is gathering books about World War II and the military. The collecting instinct carries people from field to field," Schmitz said.

His selection of classics from the Franklin Library and the Easton Press appeals to collectors of fine leather books.

Schmitz welcomes booksellers, as well as book buyers, and purchases entire collections or single volumes. He also visits estate sales and scans auction catalogues for desirable titles.

What about his own reading habits - have they changed over the years? Schmitz, like his Los Altos customers, continues the pattern he established 21 years ago. "I read everything I can about John Steinbeck," he said. "I never get tired of him."

The Book Nest is located at 366 Second St., Los Altos. For more information, call 948-4724 or e-mail at booknest@worldnet.att.net.