Dorothy Massey, owner of Collected Works Bookstore & Coffeehouse in Santa Fe, N.Mex., was profiled by the Santa Fe New Mexican, which reported that she "is resistant to the idea that her success as a bookseller makes her worthy of attention in the local paper."
"The store is a great deal more than one person," she said. "I'm delighted to talk about the store without getting into my own history."
Massey, the store's third owner, moved the operation to the corner of Water and Galisteo streets in 2008 so she could put in a coffee bar and accommodate larger crowds, "just in time to celebrate the recession." The store made it through the tough times thanks to the goodwill of "the local people in Santa Fe and the tourists, who did not stop coming."
She also noted that what keeps the business humming is the bookshop's 10-member staff: "They're not in it for the pay. They're in it because they enjoy what they're doing and they enjoy their colleagues. We are one family--we squabble. We don't always get along, but we try to work it out."
Cecile Lipworth, the store's events curator, said, "Dorothy's vast literary knowledge, her memory of every author and the books they've written, and what events have taken place in the store, is unmatched by anyone I know. She's one of the strongest women I've worked with, and her forthrightness sets important boundaries when working with the volume of authors and members of the public we talk with daily."
Massey deflected all praise: "Santa Fe is a very literary town. The last time I looked, there were 17 independent bookstores. When I moved here, this store was already successful. I did research all over the country to find a store that was already part of a community. As my daughter said to me at the time, 'You'll be better at running a bookstore than a muffler shop.' "