Lewisburg’s BOOKSTORE, Continuing a Poet’s Dream
by Lisa Coburn
It’s fascinating how a person can live in one area for most of their life, passing a place time and again, never realizing the depth of its history or the lives shaped within its walls. Growing up in this community during the ’80s, I must have passed the Bookstore countless times, completely unaware of the treasures inside and the remarkable people who devoted themselves to its legacy.
Robert Grady Head, who guided the Bookstore from 1977 until his passing in February 2025, dedicated himself to curating “scholarly, scarce, and out-of-print books” in an iconic shop that has become the longest continuously single-owned business in Lewisburg. Robert ensured that the shelves brimmed with a diverse selection of books and music, including an unparalleled offering of small press poetry, while living an extraordinary life as a prodigious poet himself.
Born January 7, 1942, in Memphis, Tennessee, Robert grew up on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi and in New Orleans. He was not only a poet but also a playwright, artist, sculptor, and linguist. After studies at Oberlin College and a stint with the Merchant Marines, he pursued theatre at Tulane University, and it was while studying Old English at University College Dublin that he met his life companion, Darlene Fife.
Together, Robert and Darlene left Dublin for New Orleans. Compelled by their opposition to the Vietnam War, they launched NOLA Express, the South’s longest-running underground newspaper, which lasted until the early 1970s. Seeking a quieter, simpler existence, Robert “traveled by thumb and by bus,” arriving eventually at an 112-acre homestead in Sawmill Hollow. Darlene soon joined him, and they lived in a tepee Robert pitched by the stream. Recently, the couple transferred their beloved land to the West Virginia Land Trust, preserving Robert’s devotion to the environment for generations to come.
The Bookstore officially opened in 1977, offering an eclectic trove of books for every reader, while Darlene became owner of Plants, Etc. Both shops remain open today, testaments to their vision and collaboration. The pair studied Greek and Coptic, and together translated and published modern Greek poetry. Robert later completed his degree at Bluefield State University, composing poetry in the Bookstore and writing until his final days at 83.
Today, Ashly Bargman, co-owner of Plants, Etc., manages the Bookstore, carrying forward Robert’s dream of connecting people with quality, rare, and unique books. Step inside and you’ll find just about anything imaginable. Ashly is especially passionate about small press poetry, with shelves thoughtfully organized into subcategories that range from Old English, Chinese, Catalan, English, and Greek poetry to books about poets themselves. Beyond poetry, the collection spans women’s studies, Americana, the American Revolution, American history, and the American West, alongside subjects like geology, natural history, birds, horses, sports, cars, trucks, Jeeps, tractors, cookbooks, science, chemistry, math, and art. If there’s a kind of book you’re seeking, chances are it’s here.
But poetry is only the beginning. Tucked among the stacks are compelling works on Medieval studies, African and African American studies, philosophy, sociology, Greek literature, Roman history, theology, and spirituality. For those interested in homesteading, sections are devoted to gardening (flowers, trees, food), small livestock, and natural medicine and healing. Of course, you’ll also find renowned authors like Rudyard Kipling. It’s truly worth checking out the remarkable collection of his work.
There’s an entire space dedicated to music across every medium: treasures from Beethoven and Schubert to Lena Horne and Lenny Kravitz, even piano curricula that whisk me back to my teenage years of many lessons under the expert instruction of local legend Fran Belin.
When stepping into this exceptional store, plan to linger. Meandering through its aisles, surrounded by the scent of old books, I felt a sacred hush descend, as though thousands of stories and voices were calling out, beckoning us all to stay, explore, and absorb the enduring spirit that lives quietly behind the Bookstore’s unassuming façade.
Poem by Robert Grady Head
i don’t believe in the original sin of Adam
but i do believe in the original sin of Jamestown.
hwen I look at the painting of the Seminole
drying fish on Santa Rosa Iland
i see a center of spiritual gravity
that i don’t see in the great planters
or the poor pepl marching west.
May’s End
Already hunting for cherries
the crows come into my life
my porch high above my porch
& the trees while the sun creeps
closer & closer
so slow will it ever arrive
like life. I know the sun will
bathe me, my porch, my darling Hedda.
how amusing it is to write
about the arrival of life
at the age of 72
does this make me young at heart
hardly.
– Darlene Fife
Copyright © 2013 Darlene Fife ‘48th Street Press’ Edison, New Jersey. ‘48thstreetpress@gmail.com’
