Island Profile: All books, all the time for two Sag Harbor natives

Black Cat Books in the center of town, almost opposite the Islander, is in its second year on the Island, having moved here with its 20,000 used and rare volumes from Bridgehampton. The shop is owned by Dawn Hedberg and Michael Kinsey, married for 20 years and full-time residents of the Island since 2006 with their son, Jonah, a fifth-grader.

The two are both native Sag Harborites, “from generations of Sag Harborites,” said Dawn, who both went to Pierson High School, although they didn’t meet until afterwards.

During high school, Michael worked doing maintenance at St. Gabriel’s Retreat Center on Shelter Island. Dawn, several years younger, dropped out of high school at 16 to work in a bookstore. It’s not only all she’s ever done; it’s all she ever wanted to do. “From the time I started working in bookstores, I knew I wanted to own one,” she said.

She started at BookHampton in East Hampton, working for “the Georges,” the founders, George Caldwell and Jorge Castello. They were in their 60s when she was there and they’d had the store for 20 years. “They were very good at marketing, very knowledgeable about what would sell and it was a great bookstore then, a literary bookstore and an art bookstore,” Dawn said. “Many famous writers and artists came through when I was there. For me, it was really a great learning experience.” And as she learned what customers would ask for, she’d become curious and want to learn more about each subject.

She and Michael met through mutual friends, dated for a time, and then in 1987 began a three-month summer trip around the United States. When they found themselves in Seattle, they loved it and stayed.

They both worked in independent bookstores, Michael for the first time, and started their own book collection, thinking that one day they might have a store of their own. Dawn worked for a store with 100,000 titles and ended up managing it. “I just got to see everything. This business is all about hands on, seeing the titles and then you just accumulate info” — what was popular, what was being bought, things a good bookstore salesperson, manager or owner has to know.

By the middle of 1996, they were ready for home and to start on their own business. They drove back across country with their 10,000 books, many of them focused on the arts, and opened a small shop off Main Street in the center of Sag Harbor, which they called Black Cat Books, in December. It was a very small place, but they “went vertical,” building shelves as high up as they could. A success right from the beginning, it was always busy, and the town didn’t shut down in the winter, as East Hampton had tended to do.

While they were living in Sag Harbor, they bought their current space on the Island and used it as a warehouse. But when rents began escalating in Sag Harbor, they knew they had to make a move. They bought a house next door to the warehouse, closed the Sag Harbor business and opened in Bridgehampton.

They found, though, that they disliked the commute.

So in 2006, they gave up Bridgehampton and began to focus all their resources here. Jonah started kindergarten and his parents walked him to school on his first day. His picture ended up in the Reporter, which tickled all three.

They converted the warehouse into retail space and kept adding to their collection. They weren’t worried about being “out of the way.” “Bibliophiles find you,” Michael said. “There can be a little sign hidden behind shrubbery but the people who really love books will find you. We had a good reputation on the South Fork, people from there come over to visit the shop and make a day of it, at Sunset Beach or Sylvester Manor or whatever. We’ve retained a lot of our good customers. And the customers that live on the North Fork are thrilled that now we’re so close.”

Their stock changes a lot because its always basically in flux as some books are sold and others acquired. A new bookstore, they pointed out, has to carry the current books on every subject; usually, if something is even only a few years old, it goes out of their catalog, even though it may be the best book on a particular artist or movement. Art books, which are Dawn’s specialty, go out of print even faster. Because they are so expensive to print, they have a short run and, in only a year or two, any particular volume can be impossible to find. Unless you’re Dawn. She works hard to find and keep the works she deems significant.

Asked about the origins of her passion, she thought for a bit, and said, “I think a desire to learn.” She’s something of an autodidact and libraries have always been dear to her. “My mother would drop me off” at the John Jermain Library in Sag Harbor “every day and pick me up later. I practically lived there.” The whole family loves the library here. Their son is there all the time, fully engaged in the activities. “Ironically,” Dawn said, “he was not an early reader but he wanted a library card. He didn’t want to be left out. We’re always looking for something for him to do.” She loves the sense of community at the library and she especially appreciates their used book sales.

Black Cat sells to museums and universities as well as to individuals and has significant Internet sales. “We ship every day, all over the world from this post office. We send out stacks. We ship more to Asia and China than we ever did and a lot to Italy, France and Japan.” The shop has an upstairs, with prints and paintings and book memorabilia. They’re open every day from 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. After Labor Day, they plan to close Wednesdays.

For anyone interested in rare books, or for that matter, ordinary used books, or would enjoy simply meeting two interesting newcomers to the Island, Black Cat should be on your itinerary.