Jeff Pickell says he opened Kaleidoscope Books & Collectibles in 1990 because his wife, Deborah Greene, wanted to be able to see out of the windows in their house. “Initially, the store was my hobby,” he explains. “I collected books, comic books, baseball cards, and such. Deborah said I could either open a store or everything was getting boxed up. It was an easy choice.”
First on State St., then on N. Fourth Ave., Pickell bought and sold books, told stories, and engaged with countless customers, from U-M alums to actor Patrick Stewart. (Reprising his turn as Star Trek’s Captain Picard, Stewart obligingly intoned, “make it so.”)
Pickell closed Kaleidoscope in January. Greene is retired from the U-M, where she worked in communications, and he’s had health issues. The closing will give them more time to be together and pursue other interests such as writing, singing, and traveling.
Anyone who’s been in the store will wonder what Pickell (pronounced pick-ELL) plans to do next with all his stuff: almost every square inch of the space is filled with obscure books, first editions, vintage postcards, rare prints, and pop culture treasures from the previous century and beyond. And it turns out that what’s in the store is just the tip of Pickell’s cultural iceberg: he’s also filled the shop’s basement and multiple storage units.
A sign in the window gives the answer: on February 18 and 19, Pickell will host what he thinks may be “the biggest book auction ever in this area” at the Washtenaw Farm Council grounds in Saline. He says it will open for viewing at 8 a.m., with sales starting at 10 a.m. Up for grabs are tens of thousands of items from the store, and more than 80,000 items from Pickell’s storage units: books (he estimates 10,000 children’s books alone); prints dating back to the seventeenth century; vintage postcards and magazines; and collectibles ranging from an electric baseball game from the 1950s to an original Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival poster from 1969 printed on aluminum foil.
Pickell says he’ll hold back about 10 to 15 percent of his collection to sell later at Advanced Book Exchange, other online venues, and at book fairs. And he plans to hold on to at least two of his treasures: a Nixon bust and an unfinished clown picture painted for Emmett Kelly Sr.
“I’m keeping Nixon to remind me of how much we have to fight against oppression and distrust,” he says. “And I’m keeping the clown picture because it is an original painting that was contracted for Kelly. But the artist died before he could complete it, and Kelly canceled the contract. That picture needs to be protected and loved, just like books do.”
—
Got a retail of restaurant change? Email sallymitani@gmail.com or leave voicemail at (734) 769-3175 x 309.
