The evening of August 4, 2011 at Lemuria’s events building was like no other evening. The evening was devoted to Ed Grissom, a lifelong customer of Lemuria with a lifelong passion for Ernest Hemingway. Lemuria owner John Evans recalls the events that led to meeting Ed 33 years ago:
J. C. Simmons & John Evans
About three years after I opened and moved Lemuria to Highland Village, a large strange man came to check out my collection of books for sale.
My memory tells me he wore a navy blue suit, he walked around a bit, scoped the layout of my store, and then parked his assertive self in front of the Nobel Prize winners bookcase.
He looked at the desk where Tom, Val and myself were learning the book business and blared out to all ears: “I guess you guys like Hemingway.” We said, “Yeah!” and from there my enduring friendship with J.C. Simmons grew. Soon his buddy, another Papa crony, showed up to check out the joint, and that was when I met Ed.
Besides the evening being a reunion of sorts for many old time customers of Lemuria, we marveled at Ed’s accomplishment in the most descriptive and complete Hemingway bibliography. John reflects:
Over my lifetime of bookselling, I’ve had the good fortune to meet many wonderful bibliophiles but none have embarked on a journey like my ole pal Ed Grissom. After a lifetime of learning all about Ernest Hemingway, Ed launched into the ultimate “Papa” project of which this extraordinary book is the result.
Ed brought some of his Hemingway editions that he has been collecting for 50 years. Starting the collection with a purchase of a friend’s personal collection, Ed gradually began to expand the collection on his own.
As he researched Hemingway and his books, he found inaccuracies in the most up to date bibliography at the time. Soon he began to inquire about writing a new bibliography. Book dealers were inquisitive about Ed’s questions; Academia dismissed him, thinking that the current bibliography was flawless.
Determined, Ed eventually made contact with the highly respected Fitzgerald scholar, Matthew Bruccoli. He was tough but gave his stamp of approval on the project. And finally on August 4th Ed could proudly stand with his bibliography in hand, having made it through many obstacles for which his life as a medical doctor could not have prepared him. John described his accomplishment well:
Remarkably, Ed’s passion came to fruition. It’s not everyday that in pursuit of your wildest dreams that there actually awaits that cup of gold. And for Ed his cup is filled with the publication of this ambitious project. I praise my pal for never giving up on his passion.
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