Since 2006, Bill Sinclair has left us, and now, ET Cetera Books is given to Yvonne Sinclair Foster, his widow, to run it online.
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Epic Et Cetera
To what shall we compare thee?
Art thou a bookish hive, Rectangular shelves stacked high With nectar - the distillate of The pollen of human thought" The gold dust of the ages Lies bound in your boards, Each word but a mere mote And each book but a dry spur To a lifelong thirst, never slacked. Or art thou more or less? A Place where friends scramble wits Over cigarette, coffee and chess, Safe from marauding bears And the press of the dollar, From the wan words of newspapers And their disconcerting headline hollar! No matter - yours is but a daily epic. Though time tells us the days Still mount into years, I tell you the Golden Age is now, This day, this hour, this minute, That the gathering of honey is at hand. by Arthur Tuck |
In 1970 Et Cetera Books began in the large room of friends' home (Pat and Arnold) on E. Craig St., in San Antonio, Texas, where Yvonne learned the art of Batik with melted crayons. One of her arts in Batik has been given to Cruz, a former cook at Whole Foods Market.
Soon Bill's partner, Anna Byerly, a not yet famous artist, and himself along with his wife Yvonne, found a store front to rent from Mrs. Bertetti, our landlord, on 107 W. Locust Street, right behind San Antonio College. It has served to be a place where many folks have completed their collection of out-or-print books, found their spiritual groups & paths of various Eastern & Western Religions. While Bill's wife, Yvonne, still worked as a waitress at Clayton's Restaurant in downtown San Antonio.
Many teachers from SAC frequented Et Cetera as well; Muriel Bates, Mr. Baily, and John Igo, to name a few.
Our last Gathering, held at Whole Foods Market in 2013 included many folks, many books, pictures, bookmarks, and exchanges about the 1970’s when book collections were actively sought after. EtCetera was a bookstore that sought after out of print books, one at a time. It had neither computer nor a cashbox. Bookkeeping was done by hand. Book Catalogs were acquired with lists of book, and each had to be scanned to find the books our customers and friend needed for us to find. Yes, we had a round table made out of wood in which chess was being played with sacred music in the background.There were local artist who placed their work on consignment, and Anna Byerly-Flatten and Yvonne Sinclair worked on art shows with hand-made paintings, Macrame’, and Jewelry, which was pretty much fun. Pottery was in the shop, and we never heard complaints from anyone. People met their mates of today, then; the Eagle Bone Whistle was created by Plez McNeel, and our Mary Martha McNeel of Tai Chi and cooking classes, met Plez at Et Cetera Bookstore and married him, thus the name McNeel. Mary Martha’s cooking classes at Whole Foods Market, taught a class called “Wrap and Roll” with Yvonne who learned from her and from Waco to make Sushi and was hired for this by Ruth Wood, the Bakery Team Leader at Whole Foods Market in 2000. Greenwood Natural Foods Store was across the street on Main St. where Yvonne also baked bread and met many wonderful Sufi folks and Yogis who came to find good food before Whole Foods Market came into being. Many books are still available online at:
http://stores.ebay.com/etceterabooks or http://www.etceterabooks.com and collections are still in place if anyone would like to find out more. We are back in business!!
http://stores.ebay.com/etceterabooks or http://www.etceterabooks.com and collections are still in place if anyone would like to find out more. We are back in business!!