Rejoice with us, dear readers, as we welcome “Blue Heron Books—New * Used * Banned” to our banquet of artful Rondout Valley retail. Owners Jean Mills and Martha Haag's mission statement, “An eclectic selection of new, used, and banned books for all ages and all budgets…our store is dedicated to your right to read” gets straight to the core of what makes an indie bookstore great.
Mills grew up in Weymouth, just south of Boston, and ever since reading Harriet the Spy as a kid, knew she wanted to lead a literary life. “Basically, I wanted to be a famous writer,” she says. “Both of my parents worked in factories, and neither went to college, but my mother loved reading and read voraciously in literature, history, mystery, science fiction, science fact, ancient Greek and Roman, Babylonian, Sumerian… She instilled that love of reading and knowledge and learning in each of us.”
After college, she headed to the literary frontier of New York City, and had a great many adventures. “In a way, I've been training for this experience my entire life,” she says. “As an academic, I obviously have an interest in literature and the arts, but before that I was a freelance writer and a ghost-writer and worked on the business side of publishing at Literistic and then Sterling Lord Literistic. I worked briefly on the business side of television, as a script coordinator and assistant to the producer in the first year of Law and Order. I can attest to the fact that Dick Wolf is a good writer and cares very much about the writing on his shows!”
Blue Heron’s mission statement, “An eclectic selection of new, used, and banned books for all ages and allbudgets…our store is dedicated to your right to read” gets straight to the core of what makes an indie bookstore great.
After 15 years in the professional world of words, she dove even deeper and earned her doctorate in English literature; besides running Blue Heron Books, she’s the chair of the English department at John Jay College.
2015 was a watershed year in which she said farewell to both her mother and her intellectual mentor, feminist literary pioneer Jane Marcus. Their departures set her on the path to opening Blue Heron. “I guess (the catalyst) was conversations with the recently but dearly departed!” she says. “I spent two years establishing archives in each of their names at two separate colleges…but after they both passed away, I kept seeing blue herons alllll over the place. And, in one of these conversations I thought, gee, that would be a great name for a bookstore. I could even see how I wanted the sign and logo to look. It was crystal clear to me. They both agreed. But it really wasn't until my wife, Martha, insisted I turn this crazy idea into a reality that I, with her support and encouragement and input at all levels, began to think that it was crazy enough to work—and off we went.”
There was a lot to learn, as neither Mills nor Haag had ever worked in retail. “Nevertheless, we leaped, and things started to click into place, almost as if it were meant to happen,” says Mills.
“I love talking to people about books…I'm guiding their reading interests, but they're also guiding mine, and I love that. It's a win-win interaction.” – Jean Mills, co-owner, Blue Heron Books
On September 16, 2023, Blue Heron opened its doors, offering a full-service book-buying experience and a wide range of choices. “We lean towards the literary, politics, history, and education, towards LGBTQ+ and BIPOC writers, open forums and events, but also towards mysteries and thrillers, sci-fi and fantasy, light reads, quick reads along with the weighty tomes,” Mills says. “We don't just do new or used, we have both, and we're very attuned to the banned.” Links on the store’s website will take you to online platforms where books or audiobooks can be ordered for home delivery, and you can also place special orders for in-person pickup.
“In a way, I've been training for this experience my entire life. As an academic, I obviously have an interest in literature and the arts, but before that I was a freelance writer and a ghost-writer.” – Jean Mills
Celebrations on the calendar at Blue Heron include frequent author events for all ages and descriptions, Pride Month events in June, and a “Shakespeare in the Park(ing lot)” series through the summer featuring local actors and readers. “Our goal is to be a meaningful member of the High Falls and wider Hudson Valley community,” says Mills. “If the pandemic taught us anything, it's the importance of community and connection in real time. It has been upsetting to us, as it has been to many in our community, to see a national appetite for banning books, policing ideas, and prescribing thought. Blatant, egregious attacks on ordinary citizens who are doing the most important work, in our public libraries and schools, people who volunteer as election workers and the like, are beyond the pale.
I'm sure that one little independent bookstore isn't going to be the cure for all that ails us, but we are happy to be a part of a response that's based on civic engagement, compassion, and conversation.”
The community has embraced Blue Heron, and Mills says she is having a blast. “The High Falls community is here for it, and so are we. I love hearing from the kids—we love our conversations with all of them, and with their parents, aunts, uncles, grandparents, cousins… the groups of friends who come up for the weekend, the solitary browsers, everyone. And the biggest surprise for me was that wow, I really like people! Writing, especially the kind I’ve focused on, is a very solitary pursuit—it can be isolating. But people aren’t the way social media portrays them. When you have a chance to hang out and talk, before, you know, buying a book and grabbing a slice—we’re so glad to have Ollie’s right across the street—it's enormously rewarding. I feel like I'm someplace that matters when I am able to have conversations with actual people, surrounded by books and sometimes by the people who wrote them. Learning what my customers are reading, thinking, and laughing about; opening those delivery boxes and finding the treasures inside—every day feels like a holiday.”
blue heron books
1209 Route 213, High Falls
845-377-1089
