The Colorado Authors' League will honor Tattered Cover owner Joyce Meskis with its first Author Advocate Award, “because of her lifelong commitment to both readers and writers,” said Vickie Bane, president of CAL.
The award was established this year by CAL “to recognize individuals whose unique support of — and involvement in — the world of writing and publishing contributes to the vitality and longevity of authorship and the printed word,” according to a written statement from the league.
The award will be presented to Meskis during a banquet at the Courtyard by Marriott Denver Cherry Creek on May 8. Local author Dr. Robert Greer will be the keynote speaker.
Meskis bought the original Tattered Cover on Second Avenue in Cherry Creek in 1974. It measured 950 square feet. It was enlarged and spent many years in Cherry Creek before moving to the historic Lowenstein Theatre building on East Colfax Avenue. There are two other stores — in LoDo and in Highlands Ranch — and a very small (922 square feet) store will be part of the retail mix in the renovated Union Station when it opens this summer.
The stores host 500-600 author visits and book signings a year — support cited by the authors' league. And Meskis does not censor titles or authors the stores carry, although at times there have been protests. While she can't attend all author events, she goes to many.
“I never stop feeling in awe of the experience of an author signing or event,” she said. “When I go, it's a magical moment.”
A favorite memory is that of a little boy named Duncan, who was unable to attend a signing by astronaut John Glenn because it was past his bedtime. He delivered a note for Glenn, saying his mom had told him about the work Glenn had done and thanked him from “your Friend, Duncan.” Meskis said that illustrates the breadth of interest among readers.
In addition, Tattered Cover now offers a print-on-demand service to help authors publish their own titles.
“I'm the eternal optimist,” Meskis said in an April 8 interview. “It's been a difficult time of transition and we have lost many independent bookstores. Things are leveling out more … There are opportunities for independents … with more community involvement, used books, downloads, reduced inventories … Publishers are still feeling their way.”
Tattered Cover has condensed the LoDo store (“all the books are squished in there” on the first floor, Meskis said) and leased the second floor.
The store received national attention in 2000 when records of book titles that a customer had purchased at Tattered Cover were subpoenaed by the anti-drug North Metro Task Force. Information about titles a customer or library patron reads is considered sacred by bookstores and libraries — not to be shared with anyone — so Meskis refused. The National Booksellers Association (she is a former president) supported her — as did authors across the nation and local customers — as possible legal expenses loomed. After a two-year court fight, Meskis prevailed in a Colorado Supreme Court decision.
At 72, she spends half her time with the store and half her time (“actually two-thirds and two-thirds”) as director of the University of Denver Publishing Institute, a graduate level four-week summer course for recent college graduates who want to enter the world of publishing. It takes about 95 students and draws 50 to 60 lecturers from publishing companies — who donate their expertise — including, for example, the heads of the Princeton University Press and Green Willow children's books, as well as editors and people from production and sales.
“Most students think they want editorial when they start — 92 percent — but it's all they know. By the end of the summer it may be marketing or publicity. It's a foot in the door, respected in the industry. Columbia and NYU have comparable programs,” Meskis said.
She has an early memory of Henry Lowenstein asking if she wanted to sell books at intermission when the Colfax building was still a theater. She packed the car and two young daughters and set up shop downstairs — where the children's books are placed today.
There are also memories of fitting inventory into the former theater — curved walls and bookcases don't work well together. They had to put in two elevators because of the different levels. “But it's built like Fort Knox.”
The Colorado Authors League will also bestow another newly created honor, a Lifetime Achievement Award, to 101-year-old poet Lois Beebe Hayna, in recognition of outstanding work, significant contributions and distinguished achievements of a Colorado Authors' League member “during a long and successful career in the publishing arts.” Hayna still helps other writers, hosting two or three writing groups a week, although she is legally blind.
For more information about CAL, see: coloradoauthors.org.
