Iconic Montreal bookstore turns 40, but looks way older

If it ain't broke ... The Word Bookstore has thrived for 40 years by sticking to classic values

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The Word has been a haven for McGill students for more than a generation, and for many literary friends from all over the city. … It has been a haven in a particular way for me, because when my son was preschool or elementary school age and we were walking home, we would stop off to take a look at the children’s books in the corner, and then as he became more independent, he would stop off himself and was often found ensconced in an art deco armchair in that corner … Recently, when I was walking to our house with my granddaughter, I mentioned to her that one day I would take her on a tour of the ghetto and show her all the places her dad lived in when he was growing up, and she asked me, “Can we go to the bookstore where he sat in the corner and read?”

— Writer and longtime McGill ghetto resident Denis Sampson, from the memoir A Migrant Heart (2014)

In 1973, Adrian and Luci King-Edwards were soon-to-be-wed McGill graduates living in a starter apartment on Milton St., between Durocher and Aylmer Sts. Their 4 1/2 — read this and weep, apartment seekers of today — rented for the princely sum of $100 a month.

Passersby soon began to notice that something unusual was going on inside the place, outwardly distinguished from its immediate neighbours only by a photograph of George Bernard Shaw in the window of the door. After a spell selling books out of the back of a car in isolated communities around northern B.C., the King-Edwardses had decided to turn their home into an underground used bookstore.

“The door was unlocked. People would just walk in,” Adrian King-Edwards recalled this month. “Selling books is a very social thing.”

Soon enough, the apartment right off the sidewalk became a nerve centre. The McGill ghetto was a very different place in those days, the “ghetto” part of its name a lot less ironic than it is now. Renovation crazes and real estate booms were still a long way off; boarding houses predominated, occupied largely by seniors and impoverished students.

Traffic in and out of the welcoming book lair was steady — so steady that, this being the early ’70s, it was thought by some that something other than just books might be changing hands. A raid was duly made. “The police went through the whole apartment,” said King-Edwards. “They paid special attention to all the spice bottles in the kitchen.”

As it happened, the boys in blue found nothing more threatening than a set of newborn kittens. Still, it was clear that something had to give, and official business premises were sought. When the ideal spot was found, by Adrian while out walking the dog, it turned out to be right next door on Milton, at 469. A Chinese laundry had been on the premises for 70 years; the elderly proprietor was going blind and decided to leave, and the space was for rent at $175 a month. That felt like a lot to the King-Edwardses, but they scraped it together. A few interior adjustments were made, stock cobbled together from rummage sales and other used dealers, and on March 22, 1975, The Word Bookstore officially opened for business.

MONTREAL, QUE.: MARCH 3, 2015 -- The Word Bookstore at 469 Milton Street in Montreal, on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 is turning 40 years old. Owner Adrian King-Edwards and his son, Brendan, right, chat during a break at the bookstore. (Dave Sidaway / MONTREAL GAZETTE)

The Word bookstore owner Adrian King-Edwards and his son Brendan.

If some Gazette readers are feeling a certain déjà vu right about now, that may be because I wrote a silver anniversary tribute to The Word in this same space 15 years ago; it’s a testament to the store’s unique identity and dedication to continuity that with a few minor adjustments, that story could almost be repeated here. Take the store’s signage — or rather, its lack. A small sandwich board was put up in 1975; when that sign was stolen it was replaced by one that was officially deemed inappropriately unilingual. So in the end it was decided they’d go with no sign at all. “It seems to work,” said Adrian, understating in the deadpan style familiar to all who know him.

As a newcomer to Montreal in 1998, the first few times I walked past 469 Milton and looked though the window I mistook the place for the front room of a book-loving family — a family I would have loved to get to know. Remarkably enough, that’s exactly what happened. Through the grapevine I heard that The Word might be hiring. It may literally have been the one job in all of Montreal that I was suited for, and I was lucky enough to land it. But if I had any thoughts that this would be a nice, laid-back gig where I could catch up on my reading in the quiet moments, I quickly learned otherwise.

I should have been tipped off by the demanding written quiz required of all prospective employees: matching book titles to authors across all literary and social science genres — a test I was frankly fortunate to pass. Once hired, I gained a whole new appreciation for the term “tight ship.” Not an inch of space in The Word is wasted: buying criteria are exacting, the walls completely covered in books that are aligned for symmetry every morning, a $1 bench and 50-cent window ledge kept full, a new window display set up daily, meticulous standards of neatness maintained.

In the year that I was there I might not have made a lot of money, but thanks to Adrian I left with something far more valuable: a true understanding of the maxim that a job worth doing is worth doing well.

The Word’s longest serving staffer, Scott Moodie — local rockers of a certain vintage will recall his band, the Snitches — is coming up on a Word anniversary of his own: next year he’ll have been working at the store for 25 years. “Adrian was quite gracious in that I was able to go off on tour with my band for one or two months and come back and still have a job,” said Moodie. “That’s very rare.”

His resulting loyalty has paid off for the store in ways that can’t be bought: when a customer asks for a specific book there’s no need to consult a computer, because Moodie carries the stock list around in his head. He’s also responsible for the window displays. (The theme on the day of this writing: International Women’s Day.) 

Longtime customers will remember Adrian and Luci’s twin sons, Nick and Brendan, virtually growing up in the store. They’re now 34. The latter, after studying journalism in Toronto, has retuned to Montreal and taken on the role of his father’s de facto heir apparent. It says a lot for Brendan’s acumen that Adrian, never known as one of life’s great delegators, is willing to leave the store in his son’s hands for longer and longer periods while he spends time away from the store — in Nova Scotia, where his second wife Donna Jean-Louis has a home in the Annapolis Valley (Adrian and Luci divorced in 2010), or at book fairs, where he deals rare and antiquarian books, another crucial aspect of his business.

(The Word also has a nice sideline in the renting out of books for film shoots: recent clients have included Life of Pi, Wim Wender’s upcoming 3D drama Every Thing Will Be Fine, and Barney’s Version. Remember the scene where Paul Giamatti as Barney starts throwing books around? Those were from The Word.)

Brendan tends to the store’s social media and Facebook profiles — significant developments for a business where the designing of a new bookmark used to count as a revolutionary change. Despite his online savvy, though, he’s a firm believer in bricks and mortar. “The more time I spend (in the store) the more important it feels,” he said. “In a very real way, the experience people come here for is the foundation of our business.”

Brendan has just touched on perhaps the single biggest factor in The Word’s mystique: the building itself. Before it was a laundry it was a stable; city records date it back as far as 1835, and it feels even older. ‘Medieval’ is a word that has been used by more than one visitor to describe the general vibe. It’s an impression reinforced by features like an iron ring in the wall by the counter, once used to tie up animals, and by the rickety staircase up to the second-floor stockroom, its surfaces worn to the contours of its users’ feet like the steps of an ancient cathedral.

The well-worn stairs up to the loft of The Word bookstore in Milton St. in Montreal.

The well-worn stairs up to the loft of The Word bookstore in Milton St. in Montreal.

The old cash register at The Word bookstore at 469 Milton Street in Montreal, on Tuesday, March 3, 2015 is turning 40 years old. Owner Adrian King-Edwards continues to run the shop and still likes the old-school tech like his simple cash drawer. (Dave Sidaway / MONTREAL GAZETTE)

Low-tech and proud of it. The old cash register at The Word bookstore in Montreal’s McGill Ghetto.

Other quirks — no running water, no electric cash register, non-fluorescent lighting — add to the sense of having stepped back into a more quiet time.

“We’re regarded as quaint,” said Adrian, his tone implying that such a description bothers him not one whit. In fact, it’s that very resistance to unneeded change that has landed the store a spot in places like Fodor’s Guide to Montreal, where it is tipped as a go-to tourist destination.

“They call us up to do a fact-check once every year or two when they’re doing a new edition. They’ll ask, ‘Does the owner still have a beard? Does he still add things up in his head? Is there still a rotary phone?”

Happily, yes is the answer to all three questions, and it’s not just neighbourhood loyalists and literary tourists who are glad of that. Both Adrian and Brendan sense a groundswell among young people away from the depersonalized realm of online shopping. A sticker reading “I Didn’t Buy it On Amazon” has been proving wildly popular among customers. Every day, they see students who want the real thing.

“There’s nothing like a real book, and there’s nothing like being in a room full of them,” said Adrian.

Truer words were never spoken. Roll on 50, The Word.

The Word bookstore celebrates its 40th anniversary Sunday, March 22, with an open house from 2-5 p.m. at 469 Milton St.

Words about The Word

“The saga of The Word is one of astonishing persistence and grace under pressure. Since its early days the store has been a beacon for Montreal readers and writers, thanks in large part to the unique and much-loved figure of Adrian King-Edwards. Not only is he a shrewd and sharp-eyed book dealer, he’s also a model of integrity and kindness.” —Mark Abley, poet

“As a writer, there are few thrills that have equalled walking by The Word and seeing my first book in a prominent wall display. I’m sure there are many other local writers who feel the same way. The Word is the ultimate community bookstore, actively supporting writers, students, professors, and readers of all kinds and providing a place for them to come together.” Saleema Nawaz, novelist

“It’s no exaggeration to say that the most important and most influential parts of my poetry education — as well as my entire working library — came from The Word, often cobbled together from their one-dollar stall. I don’t think I’d be the same poet and critic today without Adrian and his shop.” —Carmine Starnino

ianmcgillis2@gmail.com

Twitter:@IanAMcGillis

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