Why we bought Politics and Prose

When the announcement came last June that Politics and Prose was up for sale, we had the same nervous questions that many other Washingtonians had: What would new ownership mean for book lovers who enjoy browsing contemplatively in the store’s aisles or attending its events? For P&P staff members who are so expert at matching new titles with their customers’ tastes? For authors who make P&P a favored stop on their book tours? For families who boast three generations of loyal customers?

We wondered about all these things, but we never considered trying to buy the store. At least not then. One of us was busy developing a book proposal, and the other was preparing to leave the State Department for a calmer life of writing and teaching. And besides, who would want to run a bookstore in 2011, when online sales, electronic books and declining readership have become the death knell for big bookstore chains and many independent stores across the country?

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But here we are, nine months later, the eager-to-get-started, owners-to-be of Politics and Prose.

Our evolution from P&P fans to P&P proprietors began almost accidentally. Over the summer, friends urged Brad, who has spent his career in journalism, to think about bidding for the store. We talked about it, and in October, he submitted a lengthy questionnaire required of all prospective buyers that asked about everything from his favorite books to his vision for the store’s future.

The questionnaire was one of many examples of the seriousness and care with which the store’s owners, Barbara Meade and David Cohen, were going about the sale. David’s wife, Carla, conceived of Politics and Prose in 1984, and Barbara became a partner soon afterward. They were a formidable book-selling pair whose vision, passion and hard work built Politics and Prose into a Washington landmark.

But Carla’s cancer diagnosis in 2009, and her passing last October, left Barbara and David with the sad duty of having to sell their community treasure. As Barbara told The Washington Post on Monday: “The hardest part of all this was losing Carla. I told Carla it would be too lonely to run a business by myself.”

What was evident to us throughout the sale process was that Barbara and David were not selling just a business. They were selling a cultural institution that was part discussion forum, part neighborhood meeting ground, part event stage. And they were determined that Politics and Prose not only survive and thrive, but continue to reflect Barbara and Carla’s legacy.

Barbara also made clear that it was important to have a female presence at Politics and Prose, since women had founded and run the store. This point hit home especially with Lissa, who was already warming to the idea of a husband-and-wife team managing P&P. So what started as a solo enterprise for Brad quickly became a partnership.

The exhaustive sale process went on for many months (during which Borders filed for bankruptcy), giving us time to learn more about the book industry and the challenges it faces. Although Brad comes from a long line of businessmen, and Lissa from a family of authors, the only real experience we had with book retail was through Brad’s two books on defense and national security and Lissa’s collaboration on Hillary Clinton’s White House memoir, “Living History.”