Endings

This past Sunday, May 1st, marked the end of a Boulder landmark – and a place with significance to me. Bookend Café shut its doors after 20 years.

As far as I can tell, until the Camera ran a story a few days prior to its closing, all this unfolded unbeknownst to many. Given the crowds that showed up on the last day, it seems like many will be sad to see this place go. Bookends’ owners, I understand, are looking to create something new in the space. What, I don’t know.

On a Pearl Street Mall whose identity is ever in-flux, Bookend was the perfect dovetail for its shared-wall-partner, the Boulder Bookstore. While two separate businesses, in that an open door led from one to the other – they epitomized the ideal (ever realized??) of coffee and indulgent reading. In a sense, they represented a partnership of independent businesses that defines this area: thought, reading, and caffeine.

On a personal level I’ll certainly miss Bookend. When I lived in Boulder in the mid-90s, Bookend was often a mainstay of my non-working hours. Its beverages provided fuel for thought, its slate tables have provided the foundation for many a letter, and good friends were met and made there. So on many levels – from the perspective of both personal and community – it’ll be missed.