In 1968 at the ripe age of 12 I bought a paper bag of paperbacks for 50 cents at a local fundraiser. the first book out of the bag was "Tunnel in the Sky" by Robert A. Heinlein. The second was "The Swords of Lankhmar" by Fritz Leiber. That was it, I was hooked on science fiction and fantasy and have read and collected voraciously ever since.
In 1974 I started teaching myself guitar and eventually became known as a performer who found a nice sound balance with my tenor voice and guitar. In the '80's I helped found a local folk band "Dandelion Wine" and by the mid-'90's we cut 2 CDs and played at the Winnipeg Folk Festival - one of the best and largest festivals in North America.
Through various jobs over the years my big not-so-secret dream has always been: to run my own bookstore.
In the past few years I discovered that I was unable to hold a job because I was needing too much time off to deal with family health issues and such. So in 2008, with the help and loving support of my dear wife Laurie "Lady Bear" Helgason, I opened Turned Pages: Used Books and More as an online hobby enterprise. I weeded thru my own collection for inventory and my mother gave me access to hers as well. in January 2009 I bought the remaining stock from a bookstore whose owners were retiring, closing the shop. I'd worked part time for them while attending a business college and they remembered me fondly to offer a deal I could not refuse. This floated along for awhile until finances and recent Dire Circunstances dictated a recent change of focus and a name change as well (more on that in a later posting).
So here I am, running the listings from my desktop 'puter, my inventory stacked in boxes in a storage locker downtown. Each week I try to yank a box, and label the box so I can find it again when it goes back in the locker. But! It's still a hobby; nowadays it's ridiculous hard to actually make a living from this. The rewards aren't financial, I get huge satisfaction from helping people find what they have found to be so elusive.
Why "The Bear"? In college I was the guy in the school mascot costume, a polar bear. I sat on student council with several other Johns and they hung the moniker on me so they'd know which John they referred to. (No, not that John, or that one! John, the Bear, y'know?) The name fits; I'm 6'6", 230 lbs, shaggy, cuddly and gentle.
In 1974 I started teaching myself guitar and eventually became known as a performer who found a nice sound balance with my tenor voice and guitar. In the '80's I helped found a local folk band "Dandelion Wine" and by the mid-'90's we cut 2 CDs and played at the Winnipeg Folk Festival - one of the best and largest festivals in North America.
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| John the Bear @ 1994 Winnipeg Folk Festival |
Through various jobs over the years my big not-so-secret dream has always been: to run my own bookstore.
In the past few years I discovered that I was unable to hold a job because I was needing too much time off to deal with family health issues and such. So in 2008, with the help and loving support of my dear wife Laurie "Lady Bear" Helgason, I opened Turned Pages: Used Books and More as an online hobby enterprise. I weeded thru my own collection for inventory and my mother gave me access to hers as well. in January 2009 I bought the remaining stock from a bookstore whose owners were retiring, closing the shop. I'd worked part time for them while attending a business college and they remembered me fondly to offer a deal I could not refuse. This floated along for awhile until finances and recent Dire Circunstances dictated a recent change of focus and a name change as well (more on that in a later posting).
So here I am, running the listings from my desktop 'puter, my inventory stacked in boxes in a storage locker downtown. Each week I try to yank a box, and label the box so I can find it again when it goes back in the locker. But! It's still a hobby; nowadays it's ridiculous hard to actually make a living from this. The rewards aren't financial, I get huge satisfaction from helping people find what they have found to be so elusive.
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