Von's Bookshop, West Lafayette, Ind.

I drew these posters around 1996, while working at Von's Bookshop, one of the last and among the best independent book stores in America.

I worked at Von's while attending graduate school at Purdue University, managing the kids' books among other sections. Von's is a social focal-point of the community, a place where people browse shelves and talk books or current events -- the Sunday morning New York Times patrons, the skater punks, the retired professors, the undergrads, the high schoolers, the politicians, the drop-outs & eternal grad students, the factory workers, the farmers, the musicians, the school teachers, the writers, the readers, the kids. That job remains one of the lowest paying but most gratifying of my life.

Next time you visit West Lafayette, Ind., stop at Von's and say hi to Jim Martin and all the rest.