ATLANTA’S OXFORD BOOKS

BEST BOOKSTORE REMEMBERED

By Olivia Thomason

For a few glorious years, I was fortunate to be part of a team that provided books, periodicals, music and celebrities to Atlantans who gathered at a bookstore like no other. Oxford Books had multiple locations, but the two with soul and almost cosmic energy were in Buckhead and Midtown, two areas still thriving.

I painted my memories of this one-of-a-kind bookstore, calling it “The World Comes To Oxford Books.” Included in the painting are different people, a group of folks representing the diversity of cultures Oxford embraced. I wanted to include some of the celebrities I worked with there who came to our bookstore over the years: Julia Child, Dinah Shore, Walter Cronkite, John Grisham, Pearl Bailey, Anthony Hopkins, Captain Kangaroo, Mick Jagger, Mickey Mantle, Jimmy Carter, Lauren Bacall and George Jones. Plus, many more. But they deserve to be on some paintings in the near future.

Now, this painting is on a special wall somewhere in the South. The memories it inspires recall a time when a landmark bookstore called Oxford was a gathering place. If you were alone on Christmas, New Year’s Day or any holiday, we were open. You could hang out and  read, have coffee, eat from the deli, browse and loose those blues.

I miss Oxford Books. And I don’t think I am alone.

I would love to hear about some of your Oxford Books memories: bigoart1@yahoo.com.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!