Betts Bookstore -- A Home Run!

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Since we live in California our contact with Betts bookstore has been solely by phone -- we call in an order, and they faithfully fill it. We find their pricing and knowledge right on. Of course, sometimes ebay is chaper, but often people on the internet don't reall know what they're working with.

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The other day my wife bought me a "Stephen King grab-bag." A what?, I asked. What's a grab bag? "They were cleaning out their back room and put a bunch of stuff in a grab bag. It's all Stephen King, you'll like it," she promised. I was very excited because I knew it was coming from Betts, and they don't let down -- ever. I knew that if my wife paid $75 for a "grab-bag" then we would get more than our money's worth.

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When my wife talked to Stu he said, "This should get there on Friday." He was right. The box was heavy, which excited me. So what was inside? I was afraid I had just paid for some old shirts. No -- it was a box full of. . . stuff. Lots of stuff. Odds and ends. It took a while to process. Soon our kitchen table was full as we spread out the items. Our children gathered round, interested in all the things coming out of the box. We were thrilled.

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A few things:

• Posters.


• Postcards.
  
• Bookcovers (paperback and hardcover).
  
• Newsletters.
  
• Ticket stubs.
  
• Wizard and glass booklet.
  
• Photo's.
  
• The Dark Tower comic book series.
  
• IT promotional booklet.
  
• Paperwork. Like legal briefs and more.
  
• Bookmarks.
  
• Tickets from Stephen King readings.
  
• Lawnmowerman VHS cover, and stickers to cover up King's name.
  
• The Collector, a new introduction by S.K.
  
• Phantasmayoria. (Bookelt/newsletter by George Beahm)
  
• Promotional brochure of the stage production of Misery.
  
• Tickets to the halloween showing of Carrie.
  
• Large set of "The Red Letter" (a newsletter booklet by Greg Htchkiss).
  
• Trading Cards.
  
• Dustjackets.
  
• SKIN, Stephen King Information Network newletters.
  
• Ads clipped or torn from papers.
  
• Magazine pages.

And, one more thing: A scrap book. Who's scrap book? Charlie Fried's, I think. Actually, I'm pretty sure. It has his picture, and lots of persnal notes to himf rom editors. Charlie Fried was a well known super-collector. I read an interview with him in The Essential Stephen King. So there I sat with this little scrap book of really, really cool stuff -- and I'm thinking: Wow, Charlie Fried put this together! (In other words: Someone know knows what they're doing).

The Scrapbook is full of his personal notes. A lot about his trip to Maine, and ersonal pictures of things in Bangor related to King. A personal picture of King's home and the sandpipe. It is, to me at least, priceless. Not just that it can't be bought in a bookstore, but the feeling that it was assembled by someone who really thought highly of King. I thumbed through it once to figure out what it was, then kept going back to it, ralizing it was the real prize in the box. A big thanks to Betts for making this available.