Magazine Memories: 30 Years Selling Antique Paper
An Autobiography: 1985-2015By Robert M. Katzman324 Pages
$29.99 Plus sales tax, where applicable.
“A fascinating tale of how a person picks himself up with virtually no resources.”
How, after two years of unemployment, I eventually rented a small space in Northwest Chicago and gradually taught myself a new - but also on the brink of extinction - business. I began selling back-issues of periodicals. I made up all the rules as I went along and importantly, I made friends all across America with the other twenty surviving such stores coast to coast, most of whom I never met, but our long distance relationships were warm and we trusted each other. A man's word was his bond.
Over time I ended up with 150,000 periodicals back to 1576 in 5,000 sq. feet, and after 31 years, my store was one of the last to go in this country. I was very lonely as all the others disappeared before me, good men who fundamentally understood that their world was ending as the next generations no longer valued paper. And all our treasures turned to dust. By then, I believed it was the end of my 54-year entrepreneurial life, at 66. Poof!
But, that wasn't true. 24 books were waiting to be written and gradually published.
Over time I ended up with 150,000 periodicals back to 1576 in 5,000 sq. feet, and after 31 years, my store was one of the last to go in this country. I was very lonely as all the others disappeared before me, good men who fundamentally understood that their world was ending as the next generations no longer valued paper. And all our treasures turned to dust. By then, I believed it was the end of my 54-year entrepreneurial life, at 66. Poof!
But, that wasn't true. 24 books were waiting to be written and gradually published.
