Truman Thwing Metzel Jr.: 1926 - 2008

His bookstore was hub for writers of all stripes

Customers of Evanston institution gathered to read, debate, drink coffee and play chess

June 15, 2008

People who find today's enormous bookstore chains bland and impersonal often describe near-mythical, now-shuttered bookstores they once knew: places with piles of books that could topple at any minute, the resident cat that prowled the shelves and the owner who debated philosophy.

Great Expectations of Evanston, which closed in 2001, was one such bookstore, and its longtime owner, Truman Thwing Metzel Jr., made it the stuff of bookworm nostalgia.

Mr. Metzel, 81, died of cancer Friday, June 6, at his home in Evanston, relatives said.

Mr. Metzel, an identical twin, was born in Highland Park in 1926. After attending Highland Park High School, he received an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College in 1948 and a master's from the University of Michigan in 1954.

At Michigan, Mr. Metzel studied speech because he had political aspirations, said his daughter, Suzanne Metzel. Instead he found a different outlet for his fascination with history, social causes and debate: He returned to the North Shore and took a job at Great Expectations on Foster Street.

Suzanne Metzel, who is Mr. Metzel's daughter with his first wife, the late Nancy Metzel Shea, recalls that when she was growing up her father taught her not to underline passages in her books or scribble in the margins.

"He believed in respecting the book," she said.

In 1961, Great Expectations' original owner, Bob Geary, wanted to sell the store and Mr. Metzel bought it, said Jeff Rice, who purchased the store from Mr. Metzel when he retired in 1995.

"He read more books than anybody I knew," said Rice, who walked into the bookstore as a curious Northwestern University freshman in 1968 and pretty much never left until he closed the store in 2001. "He considered himself part of an intellectual, moral and skeptical culture."

Under Mr. Metzel, Great Expectations became a hub for writers both unpublished and famous -- renowned Italian novelist Umberto Eco once walked in, greeting Mr. Metzel with a "Truman!" and a large embrace, Rice said -- and for anyone with ideas to share. Customers and friends gathered around coffee tables, which Rice describes as the heart of the store, and read, debated, drank coffee and played chess.

Rice said Mr. Metzel's personality set the culture of the store. He was the deep-voiced man behind the desk, the one who sized up the books customers had picked out, offered what were not always solicited opinions and often directed them to a book they would enjoy better.

"He liked to keep customers on their toes," Rice said. "It wasn't cheap. It wasn't just for the sake of argument. There was a moral code. He believed his job was to generate discussion, not shut it down."

Other survivors include his wife, Dorothy Anderson; a son, Truman III; a brother, Jack; and four grandchildren.

A memorial will be from 3 to 7 p.m. Sunday at the home of Suzanne Metzel and Matthew Gehringer, 1733 Asbury Ave., Evanston.

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eachenbaum@tribune.com
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