Margaret Waterston

   For more than a decade, Margaret Waterston and Kay Crank have teamed up to run Battenkill Books in Cambridge, N.Y., a bookstore that change and affected my life and that of many others. The children’s books section was a haven for kids learning to read, and Margaret was the person who first suggested I write about a life with dogs.
  The story is not closing, but being sold and moving to a bigger space on Main Street down the block. That is good news. There is a full-blown information revolution underway, but I believe books and bookstores will survive, and then some. Margaret and Kay are two of the reasons this cultural tradition will live, because they represent the powerful truth that bookstores are about people and community, as well as ideas and stories.
  Poets, geeks, brainacs, mystery lovers, gardeners, farmers and animal lovers all hung around the bookstore, were always welcome, always had a group to go to, something to read. My book tours always began at Battenkill. Can’t wait to see the new store.
  Yesterday, the store had a celebration and farewell for Margaret and Kay, and it seemed the entire town showed up with food to wish these wonderful women good luck. I want to do the same. Thanks and good luck.
  For people like Margaret and Kay, there are no ends, only beginnings. They are both appreciated.

Kay Crank