Helaine and I were in Downtown New Haven this bitterly cold afternoon. First a little clothes shopping, then we headed to Broadway. Helaine had an errand to run for Stef and suggested I go to the Yale Bookstore. No objection there.
I enjoy bookstores a lot though this one always leaves me feeling a little inadequate! It’s a bookstore specifically set up to serve the brightest from Yale with esoteric titles you won’t find elsewhere.
Shhh. Don’t tell. Behind the learned collection it’s really a Barnes and Noble.
I headed to the back first and Starbucks. A little coffee, a little shmoozing (Michael Bolton’s sister stopped me to say hello) and then to the magazines.
Oh no! I knew times were tough in print magazines, but this is horrible.
The Yale Bookstore used to have hundreds of magazines. No more. The magazine rack has been pared like a half dead shrub you’re trying to save. Most of the interesting little titles are gone.
There are winners and losers in the digital era. Unfortunately when so many of these narrowly focused publications disappear we all lose right along with the publishers and staff.
