Maple Street Bookshop
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In 1965, sisters Rhoda Norman and Mary Kellogg opened the Maple Street Bookshop, the first in New Orleans to specialize in paperback books. As Tess Crager's Basement Bookshop had been in the 1930s and 1940s, the Maple Street in the 1960s became a bastion of left wing and avant-garde activity in a largely-conservative New Orleans.
The shop’s friends and patrons have included Walker Percy, Ellen Gilchrist, Tom Dent, and many others. Mary Kellogg’s daughter, Rhoda Faust, later took over the shop and ran it for more than thirty years with the help of Christine Wiltz and Ricky Coxe. The location was later comprised of two shops—a used shop and a new shop—side by side in 19th-century Victorian houses. The changed hands several times and ultimately closed in 2017, with the owner Gladin Scott citing competition from online retailers.
Files
Used and Rare Book shop
Courtesy of Maple Street Bookshop
Rhoda Faust
Rhoda Faust was the daughter of founding co-owner Mary Kellogg. Photo provided by Maple Street Bookshop
Ellen Gilchrist (left) speaks with Rhoda Faust
Photo courtesy of Maple Street Bookshop
Patty Friedmann and Walker Percy, mid-1980s
Courtesy of Maple Street Bookshop
Anne Rice (left) and Rhoda Faust during a signing.
Courtesy of Maple Street Bookshop
Madeleine L'Engle signs books at the Children's Shop
Courtesy of Maple Street Bookshop
Nancy Lemman signing books.
Courtesy of Maple Street Bookshop