Chener Books

[tomskip]

Window shopping yesterday and I noticed a striking black and white photo of the grey haired gent who I think owned Chener Books in the display, simply captioned 1951 - 2018. If this means what I think it does then I'm very sorry for his loved ones and just wanted to say how much I liked visiting Chener Books, and will continue to do so.

Admin please delete if inappropriate of if I've got the wrong end of the stick.

[KidKruger]

Unfortunately I understand this means what you think it does tomskip.

[chazzle]

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

How awfully sad! My son was convinced John was Father Christmas even though John told him that he wasn?t. He has been part of Dulwich since I was a baby. It won?t be the same without him in Chener.

[El Presidente]

Very sad. A real fixture.

[Sue]

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?20,1935850,page=1

and

http://www.eastdulwichforum.co.uk/forum/read.php?20,1935850,1959552#msg-1959552

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

Thanks Sue. I didn?t see that thread so I?ve only found out today via this thread.

[Otto2]

I can confirm John has passed. The bookshop will continue, as per his wishes.

[Angelina]

we will continue to support it - it's fab.

[Monkey]

That?s a nice memory of John, DulwichBornandBred. I have two which I hold dear. The day when I walked in and didn?t see him in the middle of the piles of books he was sorting out until I suddenly saw his head emerge. The other one was when he decided to install a new till on the last shopping day before Christmas and of course it proved trickier than expected. ;-)

It?s good to hear that Chener will continue. We will support it, we absolutely will.

[Sue]

DulwichBorn&Bred Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> Thanks Sue. I didn?t see that thread so I?ve only

> found out today via this thread.

Wasn't meaning to criticise, hope you didn't think I was, I just didn't want to repeat the information on here.

We too have very fond memories of John, and will continue to support Chener books.

[BrandNewGuy]

John was a local legend and was rightly the cover 'star' of the first issue of the "Dulwich Diverter" newspaper two and a half years ago. At the paper's launch party (I write the crossword for it), he and I had a big chat, mainly about late 60s West Coast music as he was wearing a Moby Grape t-shirt in the photo on the front of the paper. Lovely man and he'll be much missed.

[TonyQuinn]

An absolute legend. Always loved going in there and chatting about this or that book and how he had the best job in the world. John will be sorely missed.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

He certainly liked to do things differently and that is part of the charm.

I like Rye Books too but I?m fond of Chener Books because it?s quirky and the kids section at the back has given my son lots of fun rooting through all the books.

Monkey Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> That?s a nice memory of John, DulwichBornandBred.

> I have two which I hold dear. The day when I

> walked in and didn?t see him in the middle of the

> piles of books he was sorting out until I suddenly

> saw his head emerge. The other one was when he

> decided to install a new till on the last shopping

> day before Christmas and of course it proved

> trickier than expected. ;-)

>

> It?s good to hear that Chener will continue. We

> will support it, we absolutely will.

[Dulwich Born And Bred]

Please don?t worry, I didn?t take it as a criticism at all, I was just surprised I missed that thread.

Sue Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> DulwichBorn&Bred Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > Thanks Sue. I didn?t see that thread so I?ve

> only

> > found out today via this thread.

>

>

> Wasn't meaning to criticise, hope you didn't think

> I was, I just didn't want to repeat the

> information on here.

>

> We too have very fond memories of John, and will

> continue to support Chener books.

[KidKruger]

.

[ianr]

.

[rch]

I worked quite closely with John on some stuff, so I was in the loop, but was asked not to go public as the family needed the space.

I've been trying to think of a suitable way to remember him and have come up with the idea of planting a special tree on the pavement across the street from the book shop, where the previous plane tree was removed after being hit by a car.

Am speaking to tree officers about this, so let me know what you guys think and I'll try to keep you all updated so that you can say hi to The John Tree every time you walk by.

[Monkey]

It?s a lovely idea, rch. Let us know if/how we can help. Thank you so much!

[dbboy]

Yes, that will be a lovely way of remembering and perhaps keeping his picture in the front window as you have done so when we walk past we can always see and remember John.

[Sue]

That's a lovely idea.

Perhaps there could be a placque of some kind on the tree (or in the tree pit)?

[PeckhamRose]

And also a "book" of remembrance in the shop?

[tomskip]

The idea of a new tree is a really good one, very apt.

[madger]

I was very sad to hear this. He was a wonderful book seller and it?s a wonderful shop. So glad it will continue. I?ll miss his presence on the Lane. With all sympathy to his loved ones.

[rch]

Thanks for all of your input and support regarding the tree idea.

FYI, I've flagged it with the council's tree officer with a view towards having something planted in the spring. I'm not sure what species yet... although Lordship Lane has a distinctive plane avenue (which I planted with one of the very first CGS budgets), we may be able to plant something more distinctive. Let me know if you have any specific ideas as I'm working on some possibilities to discuss with the officer.

I don't think we'll be able to mount a plaque on the tree itself, due to council protocol and vandalism probabilities, but let's try to do something special...

Will stay in touch!