Today's dispatch features a vintage ad from a vanished Fort Wayne business: Reader's World. Although they carried a variety of hardcover and paperback books, Reader's World was primarily known for its selection of magazines and newspapers.
I remember buying my first Doc Savage paperback at their store in Georgetown Square—immediately after seeing George Pal's 1975 film about the pulp hero at a Mallers-Spirou theater in the same shopping center.
At one time, Fort Wayne was home to a bevy of bookstores. Besides the aforementioned Reader's World, there was a B. Dalton Bookseller and a Waldenbooks in Glenbrook and Southtown Mall, a Borders at Coldwater and Coliseum, and a Little Professor in Covington Plaza and Dupont Village.
Those seeking older or out-of-print titles headed to The Book Rack—which had multiple locations around town. I loved browsing the shelves of their store at Calhoun & Rudisill for vintage paperbacks.
Today, the choices for Summit City book lovers are greatly reduced. There's a Barnes & Noble at Glenbrook Square and Orchard Crossing and used books can be found at Hyde Brothers or Half-Price Books, but the days when Fort Wayne booklovers had a multitude of shops in which to browse are long gone.
Call me an old bookworm, but I think the city is much the poorer for it.
There's more to come in the next dispatch.
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