Last Visit to a Dying Friend

I visited a friend today for what will probably be the last time. I've known him for nearly twenty years and we have shared a lot of memories in that time. But now he is wasting away, a shadow of his former self. Yet he still had something to give me. And those memories will never die.
AVE ATQUE VALE BORDERS BOOKS AND MUSIC!

Borders is going away

The news that Borders is going into liquidation hit me hard. It was no surprise, the patient had been on life-support for four months and the chance of recovery was slim, but it still hurt. Why? I could go on like Greg Kinnear in You've Got Mail how the world will be a less friendly place without Borders but that would only be ironic. Will there be a sequel to You've Got Mail, where Meg Ryan leaves Tom Hanks destitute when Fox Books shuts down?
The end of Borders means the end of a phase of my life. Borders first arrived in our neighborhood when my parents were still alive. It was Heaven as we were all bibliophiles. The selection was always light years ahead of Barnes & Noble. You could find, on the shelf (pre-Amazon) obscure books from University presses. More than just the latest bestsellers, their philosophy and religion sections were unmatched. DVD selection was just a fringe benefit.
And soon it will be gone, except for the memories.

Border's Files Chapter 11

Yesterday Borders filed for bankruptcy protection. While not surprising, it was depressing, especially that they will be closing our neighborhood store that has been there for nearly twenty years. What I liked about Borders was the selection. Sometimes it was hard to find a just published work, but this was compensated for in the number of books that were not mass published, that came from university presses. Often one could go there and find something you did not know you were looking for, like Haynes's book on the Anglophobia. Browsing was the best part of the Borders experience. Browsing on a website just isn't the same.