Richard Howorth Knows Where the Authors Imbibe. Just Don't Ask For Them By Name

There are a few destinations for book lovers that most anyone who enjoys a dog-eared page can name at the drop of a hat. Powell’s of Portland. City Lights in San Francisco. The Strand in New York City. One trait that binds these three together is the fact you might actually pass through one of their towns. Oxford, Mississippi? Not so much so. Hence, why Square Books is such a Mecca for the literary-minded.

This peripatetic food writer, yours truly –usually in search of the ultimate grilled cheese– planned an entire Southern road trip through Tennessee, Mississippi and Alabama with one stop in mind: Oxford, MS. Land of Faulkner, Grisham, and stately Ole Miss. I felt a soupcon of unexpected shyness when I inquired of the bookshop owner upon entering Square’s welcoming embrace. The store holds such a legendary spot in the American indie pantheon, that I assumed its proprietor would be out: in Paris, or Tuscany, or perhaps a writer’s conference on the coast of Maine. I did not expect to find him unpacking boxes at the back of his shop.

Richard Howorth is as gentle and unassuming as a good summer read in a hammock by a lake. He founded Square Books, which now populates four distinct shops in Oxford’s famous “Square,” in 1979. He has since spent four decades plying good reads and welcoming more authors than most folks have read, much less met.

Despite his pleasant demeanor, I sensed that Howorth, who likes to portray The Man in the Yellow Hat from Curious George at his kid’s shop, could also go deep at The Algonquin Roundtable, had he been present. I hope I did not appear too star-struck as I leapt on this happenstance opportunity to interview Oxford’s former two-term mayor for Beyondish’s “Ask a Bookstore Owner” series.

Favorite breakfast spot in town, and your go-to dish?

Bottletree Bakery. I usually get take-home blueberry muffins there, along with a weekly loaf of sourdough for sandwiches. Bottletree does have some seating.

No. 1 reason people who have never set foot in Mississippi should visit Oxford?

Oxford represents good things about the South, generally–respecting its past while also being mindful of the negative aspects of that past.

One author you have not had to the store who is on your wish list?

We would love to see Margaret Atwood and, if you could bring them back to life–James Baldwin and Lawrence Ferlinghetti, the poet and bookseller. However, we did once have Allen Ginsberg in an extraordinary 5 and a 1/2 hour event. Amazingly, he had everyone who wanted a book signed sit down next to him and have a little conversation.

Favorite food memoir or food writer?

I Am From Here, by chef Vishwesh Bhatt, a memoir/cookbook that is a spin on Southern cooking influenced by his Indian background. Cookbooks from a Mississippian? The late Craig Claiborne, whose New York Times cookbooks remain popular. And House of Smoke, the memoir coming in September from Oxford’s John T. Edge.

Newish local Mississippi author we need to discover? 

Lee Durkee has several books, yet somehow remains under the radar. He drove an Uber here, and reading his book, The Taxi Driver, is sorta like riding around Oxford with him.

What are you reading currently?  

I hesitate to admit I’m reading a novel some might categorize as chick-lit, and is in fact branded as a “Reese” pick, AND the first chapter is a detailed event of childbirth–are you still with me? BUT,  Spectacular Things by Beck Dorey-Stein is a simply terrific novel. The awesome  character who is the mother of two girl soccer prodigies reminded me of Jenny Fields in John Irving’s World According to Garp.

One restaurant to recommend that only the locals know?

Joe Stinchcombe’s Good Day Café, next to The Oil Shed on North Lamar. Also barbecue at Handy Andy’s.

So many famous guests. Did you dine out with President Obama, and where? 

I met Barack Obama a couple of times early in his presidential campaign, and introduced Michelle at an event on the UM campus, but never broke bread with them. I did, however, enjoy a nice, quiet lunch with Caroline Kennedy, here on behalf of Listening In and who was every bit as gracious and charming as one could have hoped.

When they make your movie, who would you like to play you?

Arliss Howard.

Favorite children’s book(s)?

Giant Golden edition of The Iliad and the Odyssey, and I’m partial to Curious George, as I occasionally appear at our children’s store as ‘The Man in the Yellow Hat’–somewhat my alter ego.

Best literary watering hole in Oxford? 

Shortest distance from Square Books to a bar is the upstairs bar at City Grocery. Also nearby is Proud Larry’s, a draw for its legendary music events.

Local bar you’re most likely to find aspiring authors, assuming that it is not the same? 

City Grocery Bar—although, if you come in asking where the famous writers are you’ll get thrown out, as the bartenders there are consummate professionals.

Favorite flavor at Fortune’s Ice Cream? 

Fortune’s has been defunct some 40 years. Our bookstore building used to be a drug store that sold Fortune’s ice cream, and, as a nod to its history, we just never removed the sign from our building.  But–try vanilla, made in house at Oxford Creamery just off the Square.

Peyton or Eli? 

Either Archie or the third Manning son, Cooper (personable and a very good sense of humor). Eli also a very good guy. Don’t really know the one who played at that college in Tennessee with orange uniforms.

Destination bookstore for you that is not Square?  

Lemuria Books in Jackson, Miss., owned by John Evans–a friend and UM classmate–and begun before we opened Square, enabling me to believe it was possible in Oxford. [My wife] Lisa Howorth recommends Politics & Prose in her hometown Washington, D.C.; 192 Books in Chelsea (NYC); any Feltrinelli store in Italy and elsewhere.

One sentence of advice to would-be authors? 

We don’t carry books “published” by Amazon, as they eat our young.

Visit any one of the four Square Books locations in Oxford, Mississippi. The kindly-looking gentleman in the back of the shop will be happy to recommend a good read.