Birth of a Bookstore Cat

Birth of a Bookstore Cat 

By: Judith Teitelman 

A truly successful bookstore is one with a cat. Having a cat means the booksellers care about the place and the people who walk through their doors. That’s why Skylight Books is a success and a chain bookstore is just a business. 

– Kerry Slattery, Skylight’s founding General Manager / co-owner 

Writers and cats go hand-in-hand. They are practically synonymous. The same is true of bookstores and cats, most especially independents that are, so fortunately, on the rise again. These are typically the bookstores with personality, perspective, verve, and—a cat. 

My relationship with independent bookstores runs deep. Just three months after graduating from UCLA with a degree in Art History, I was hired by Ace Gallery to open and manage Art and Architecture Books of the Twentieth Century, at the time Los Angeles’ second bookstore devoted exclusively to the arts. Although I had worked in a chain bookstore for a few years while in school, this was my first professional experience with an independent. 

My relationship with cats began around the same time and remains sacrosanct. And while I no longer run a bookstore, my connection to both are fused. This is especially true of my bond with Skylight Books in Los Angeles’ Los Feliz neighborhood. 

My husband, Aaron, and I moved to Los Feliz twenty years ago and were immediately drawn to this bookstore—the anchor of a few short streets of shops, a movie theater, and restaurants. It is our urban oasis. We regularly head down the hill for a bite to eat or to see a film and always end up wandering through Skylight’s aisles in search of the new and compelling and inspiring or whatever else is to be found. 

Skylight takes its role as a committed, enthusiastic neighbor seriously. It is a true gathering place with an energetic, wide-ranging program of author events, book clubs, reading groups, and other happenings. These, combined with friendly, informed staff, guarantees that it’s inviting and comfortable to walk through the doors. 

And, of course, for many years, there was Lucy, the beloved bookstore cat. With her passing in 2007 we felt the staff’s grief, most especially that of Kerry Slattery, Skylight General Manager, and experienced the emptiness of the store without its feline soul. 

That void became ever more acute when, two years later, our adored cats—an 18-year-old brother and sister duo—died within four months of each other, Sid in August and Ubud in November. Our house felt incomplete. The holidays were bleak that year. We counted the days until “Kitten Season.” (Who even knew there was such a thing?) But, we learned quickly that it was, indeed, real and waited anxiously for spring. Unlike Skylight Books who hadn’t adopted another—still too painful—we were desperate for four-legged energy to make our house a home once more. 

We wanted kittens and siblings again. We had so loved watching them grow up, our relationship deepening at every stage. Where to look wasn’t an issue: our longtime veterinarian had a small shelter, and we were confident the kittens we were seeking would find their way there. Once the first buds began to appear in our garden, we began calling regularly. 

In early March, on a Tuesday, we were told that they didn’t yet have any kittens, however just that morning someone had brought in a pregnant teen found in Hollywood in the parking lot behind the Immaculate Heart of Mary Church. We arranged to meet the little mama that Saturday, anticipating that two of her kittens would be ours. 

What we never imagined was that, when we first looked at her, a beautiful tortoise-shell creature—and she at us, with the deepest, most soulful eyes—she would own our hearts. She began to purr, loudly, as if to say, “What took you so long?” Within an hour she was in our car and then—home. We named her Chouchote, but always called her Mama. 

Neither of us knew anything about birthing babies, animals or otherwise, so we sought advice from our vet and friends. The suggestions were wide-ranging with one common theme: cats require a space to themselves when giving birth. They don’t want anyone around. 

So we dutifully made a cozy “cave” in Aaron’s closet, leaving the door ajar and frequently bringing her in to show off this private space. Mama would sniff around a bit and then head straight back to our bed and settle in. 

The number of babies she carried was a mystery, although the vet assumed at least four. We would keep two and Mama, unquestionably, and started to explore possible homes for the others. Gingerly, I approached Kerry Slattery. It had been a couple of years since Lucy’s passing and I wanted to see if she was ready to embrace a new cat into the Skylight fold. 

Kerry was hesitant, but open. She was drawn to Mama’s gorgeous face, but asked to wait to decide until the kittens arrived. 

Fast forward to 15 April. I had fallen asleep with Mama lying on my stomach; my mother’s hand knit afghan between us. At 3:30 a.m. a wail instantly roused us with Aaron shouting, “She’s hurt, she’s hurt!” I turned and said, “Honey, she’s having her babies.” Her announcement that the first kitten had arrived. This one was a carbon copy of Mama. 

She birthed the other three over the next two hours, still on top of me, but now unwaveringly looking straight in my eyes. As if to say, these are your babies too! 

Kerry and Skylight staffers came to visit the kittens over the next month and unanimously agreed to adopt the first-born that looked just like Mama. Franny, named by the staff, became Skylight Books’ mascot in 2009 and has, ever since, been featured on their advertising, totes, bookmarks, and blog posts. We remain incredibly proud to be her human “birth parents” and are forever bonded to Skylight. 

Aaron and I are sure that Franny was the first one out because she had to get to work!

—

Judith Teitelman has straddled the worlds of art, literature, and business since she was a teenager and worked her first job as a salesperson at a B. Dalton / Pickwick Bookstore. Just three months after graduating from UCLA with a degree in Art History, she was hired by Ace Gallery to open and manage Art and Architecture Books of the Twentieth Century, at the time Los Angeles’ second bookstore devoted exclusively to the arts. She began her career in the nonprofit sector in 1983, and in 1990 launched her arts and business management consulting firm working nationally with grass roots and mid-sized organizations and large institutions. She is also a mentor, trainer, and professional advisor to artists working in all disciplines.

Judith is on the Theater School faculty at California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) co-teaching Entrepreneurship. She is a regular trainer at the Long Beach Nonprofit Partnership and the Center for Cultural Innovation (CCI), among others, and was a trainer for more than 20 years at Los Angeles’ Center for Nonprofit Management.

Always, Judith continued her pursuit of all things literary and over the years, her articles have been published in a variety of formats and publications. These include two articles on the National Endowment for the Arts website, one that remained on the site for a dozen years, and six recent articles in Professional Artist magazine.

In 2008 Judith was a finalist for a PEN Emerging Voices Fellowship. Guesthouse for Ganesha, a tale of love, loss, and spirit reclaimed, is her debut novel. In 2016 this novel’s first chapter was published in the highly regarded literary journal PoemMemoirStory.

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GUESTHOUSE FOR GANESHA

In 1923, seventeen-year-old Esther Grünspan arrives in Köln “with a hardened heart as her sole luggage.” Thus begins a twenty-two-year journey, woven against the backdrops of the European Holocaust and the Hindu Kali Yuga (the “Age of Darkness” when human civilization degenerates spiritually), in search of a place of sanctuary. Throughout her travails, using cunning and shrewdness, Esther relies on her masterful tailoring skills to help mask her Jewish heritage, navigate war-torn Europe, and emigrate to India.

Esther’s traveling companion and the novel’s narrator is Ganesha, the elephant-headed Hindu God worshipped by millions for his abilities to destroy obstacles, bestow wishes, and avenge evils. Impressed by Esther’s fortitude and relentless determination, born of her deep―though unconscious―understanding of the meaning and purpose of love, Ganesha, with compassion, insight, and poetry, chooses to highlight her story because he recognizes it is all of our stories―for truth resides at the essence of its telling.

Weaving Eastern beliefs and perspectives with Western realities and pragmatism, Guesthouse for Ganesha is a tale of love, loss, and spirit reclaimed.

“Teitelman paints an intensely beautiful world in which different cultures merge in surprising ways. . . . A rich and moving story about an unlikely pair.”

―Kirkus Reviews

Tags: featured, women writers

Category: Contemporary Women Writers, On Writing