This month for Indie Thursday, I’m writing about Arlington’s One More Page Books & More, owned and operated by Eileen McGervey. For Eileen McGervey, One More Page is not just a business; it’s a passion. She did enough research at the beginning to know that she wouldn’t make her fortune in bookselling. In fact, she eschews the idea. Her definition of success is simply “to be able to pay the bills” and keep the doors of her store open. But perhaps McGervey […]
I’ve staked out a folding chair on the cleared sales floor of One More Page. A few rows up, Carolyn Parkhurst is arranging sundry items on the table: a hat, a t-shirt, a framed picture of herself. These items appeared in Parkhurst’s promotional video for her latest book, The Nobodies Album—possibly the funniest book trailer ever.
Eileen McGervey is preparing for a varietal wine tasting at One More Page Books & More. Wine and chocolate make up the “More.” She moves through the store, adjusting books on the shelves, moving chairs and tables back into place, and carefully arranging wine glasses on a table. “This is the side of bookselling they don’t tell you about,” she says with one of her un-self-conscious laughs. Bars of gourmet chocolate neatly line a table in front of the register. Orange peel, […]
“I am not crazy,” Eileen McGervey says.
Dressed in a soft pink sweater, black stretch pants, and sneakers, she never seems to stop moving; she pushes her short, curly hair out of her eyes as she scoots a table and chairs into a corner of the room. She’s preparing for an author event.
