Charles Sheehan-Miles

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Remembering Oxford Books

For about ten years – from 1984 until ’94, I was a regular at Oxford Books in Atlanta. It’s been on my mind the last few days, because Veronica and I have pretty much made the decision that we want to be closer to family, and we’ll likely move back there once the school year is over. It’s hard, however, for me to imagine an Atlanta without Oxford Books.

I realize the population of the city has near tripled since I was in high school, and many of you in Atlanta now never knew Oxford. It was a literary paradise – a wonderful independent bookstore, originally at Peachtree Battle shopping center, then expanded into the space next door, then they expanded more into a huge old house nearby for the used books, then much later they opened their flagship store on Pharr Road. The rapid expansion in 90-92, combined with the recession, did a lot of harm financially, and the company finally went bankrupt.

What I remember – living just a few blocks away in middle school, Oxford was a regular hangout, because we could get good sci-fi, new and used there. In high school, virtually every girl I dated (or at least wanted to) worked there at one time or another, and I remember long, late nights sitting in the Cup & Chaucer (the upstairs coffee shop) writing, talking, and, of course, smoking.

Later, it became a refuge when I was in the Army, and very often I drove from Fort Stewart (near Savannah) to Atlanta on the weekends just so I could hang out there. After the Army I returned to Atlanta, and spent I don’t know how many hours there in the coffee shop: making friends, relaxing, reading, writing. I worked there for a while, in the receiving department at Peachtree Battle and later as a cashier on Pharr Road.

In the fall of 1993, I was sitting in the coffee shop reading a book called “Among The Thugs,” about England’s famous football thugs, when a young yankee woman (sorry, northerner) kept bumming lights from me. Turned out she actually had a lighter, but wanted to say hello. Six months later we got married right there in the coffee shop, and we’re still together today.

I suppose it’s a truism that you can’t ever really go home, and I know that Atlanta is certainly not the same city it was when I was free and in my early twenties. I’m certainly not the same person I was in my early twenties.

I understand there’s a new, large independent bookstore in Decatur called “Wordsmith’s,” which I’ll be sure to check out. But part of me will always grieve a little that Oxford is gone.

The slideshow is a few shots from our wedding at the Cup & Chaucer.

Created with Admarket's flickrSLiDR.

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