In the Barnes and Noble cookie-cutter siege on our fair Oklahoma City and its independent bookstores—R.I.P. Bollinger Books, you won’t be forgotten—in the end, Full Circle Bookstore, 1900 Northwest Expressway at 50 Penn Place, outlasted them all and continues to be a timely force in the literary community.
And while books were primarily their thing, it was their cultural programs that got a teenaged Louis Fowler into the bookstore—and into their film discussion groups with erstwhile critic John Pickard—that helped me, for better or worse, become the man I am.
Well, at least one of them.
But perhaps it was the time I met cult icon Bruce Campbell there. Not only was I the first person in line to meet the Evil Dead actor, but I had my copy of If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor signed—a memento I still cherish.
Since that time, though, I seem to have completely forgotten about Full Circle, its inventory, and all the literary wonders it once held. What happened?