The Book Shop as a Safe Place

by

John J. Dunphy

Heron Dance was a newsletter I received through the U.S. Mail years ago. It was created, edited and published by Rod MacIver.

I sent Rod a letter telling him a bit about myself and how much I enjoyed Heron Dance. Rod published it in the June 1995 issue.

Rediscovering this letter is ironic. Over the last few years, I’ve been critical of the notion of “safe spaces.” How could I have forgotten that it was once a safe space for me and that I kept that tradition alive by making it a safe space for others?

Here’s that long-ago letter.

Dear Mr. MacIver:

I am very much impressed with Heron Dance! I applaud your effort to report and celebrate that which is good in this world we share.

You apparently acquired my address through Habitat for Humanity, an organization that does so much to improve the human condition by giving underprivileged families a chance to achieve a better life by realizing their dream of home ownership. I have served as Secretary of this affiliate’s Board of Directors since its founding in 1990 and consider my work with it to be among the most rewarding of my life.

I also serve on my community’s Human Relations Commission, an organization committed to eradicating bigotry in whatever guise it may lurk. Working with the Commission can be trying, even hazardous at times (such as when I find myself confronting hate groups like the Ku Klux Klan), but I feel that one should be willing to take certain risks in life, particularly when those risks are incurred while affirming one’s belief in the inherent worth and dignity of every person.* Yes, I’ll admit that I’ve been apprehensive at times, but I like to recall Edmund Burke’s observation that all that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good people do nothing. I hope that I’ll always find the courage to do something in those situations, something that affirms my belief in justice and equality for all members of the human family.*

In addition to Habitat for Humanity and the Alton Human Relations Commission, I serve as a precinct committeeman and have just completed my seventh year on my church board of trustees. I also own The Second Reading Book Shop and have tried to make it a safe, nurturing place for people who might not feel particularly welcomed or wanted anywhere else in town. Society calls them “dysfunctional people.” I call them men and women who have been battered by life and now desperately need some degree of warmth and acceptance….and that’s precisely what I try to give them in the bookshop. Here they can hang out in a safe, caring, non-judgmental environment, browse through books (without feeling they must necessarily buy something) and perhaps even engage in a bit of conversation.

It might sound rather pretentious, even ludicrous, but I have come to think of my Second Reading as a kind of mission, a ministry to people who have been hurt, cast aside and now need a place where healing can be facilitated. And I’ve honestly tried to make The Second Reading tat kind of place for as long as I’ve owned it.

Why is this so important to me? Well, you see, I was once on of those dysfunctional people myself. I didn’t own the book shop then (naturally), but the proprietor at that time made the shop a safe, welcoming place for me, a legacy that I’ve conscientiously tried to carry on to the best of my ability. And I’ve succeeded. I know that The Second Reading has touched some lives, just as it touched mine so many years ago.

Well, I didn’t mean to ramble on like this. Once again, congratulations on Heron Dance and stay with it. I believe in what you’re doing and know that I’m not alone.

Sincerely,

John J. Dunphy

Second Reading Book Shop

Alton, Illinois

• Re: those two *: Some reader will recognize these assertions as the first two principles of Unitarian Universalism, which was an important part of my life back in the day. The church referred to in paragraph four is First Unitarian Church of Alton, Illinois.

John J. Dunphy is the author of a number of works, including Abolitionism and the Civil War in Southwestern Illinois and Unsung Heroes of the Dachau Trials: The Investigative Work of the U.S. Army 7708 War Crimes Group, 1945–1947.