Goodbye, Zandbroz

 It was a bittersweet morning as I stopped off at Zandbroz in Fargo for the last time before it closes for good tomorrow. As I wandered through the nearly empty store, Ashley Thornberg from Prarie Public Radio was interviewing owner Greg Danz. When she was done she also asked me for a few words. I am not certain how eloquent I was. But whatever I said was certainly heartfelt. I then continued wandering, picking up a book or two here and there and snatching this Circus poster.

 I first stepped foot in Zandbroz a day or two after it opened in 1992. Zandbroz was like some amazing, mystical place for a young person and poet like myaelf. It became much more than that. It became a safe place, a place where I was celebrated and encouraged as a poet. My first book of poems had just been published in 1992 and Zandbroz hosted one of my very first readings. Greg and Renee Danz and later their daughter Josie became more than advocates of me as a poet; they also became dear friends who always warmly welcomed me as a fellow friend every time I came in the store

 

Not long after I first visited Zandbroz in 1992, I encouraged my parents to come with me to this amazing new place. I wasn’t certain they’d find it as amazing as I did, but the first time they visited, my father stood in front of the giant Masonic statue, mesmerized by it. That memory stayed with me. Much later, in those difficult several months after he died, I would stop in at Zandbroz often just to stand in front of that statue and remember that day my father stood there.

 As I wandered about this morning, especially in the back room where the readings took place, I was caught glimpses of the ghosts of long-gone poet/writers friends who I heard read there, such as Bill Holm, Mary Gardner, Jay Meek, Scott King, Larry Woiwode, Timothy Murphy, as well as the memories of countless others who are still with us.

 Zandbroz was more than a bookstore. It was a vital, safe community for me and other poets, writers, artists and readers. I will mourn Zandbroz, but I will always be grateful for what it was to me and to others like me over these 30+ years. Thank you, Greg, Renee and Josie.