Richard Murian recently slipped away at 87. An active Arizona book dealer over much of his life, he was a friendly and reliable source who bought and sold stock and provided help to those who posed complex bibliographical questions.
Richard was born in East St. Louis, Illinois, on September 17, 1937. He lived in a small apartment with his mother, but books were always present. He would go on to earn several degrees, work as a librarian, and in an unusual step for a bookseller, also serve as a minister. Minister isn't the highest paying job, so he sold scholarly books on the side. That began in 1979 and he never stopped, in time becoming a full-time bookseller. That turned into Alcuin Books of Scottsdale, Arizona.
In his last two decades he increasingly relied on Linda S. Moore, who has now been given his business and stock. She is now planning to move the business to a new location over the next year. In the meantime, the business continues in the same location: 4242 N. Scottsdale Rd., Scottsdale, AZ 85251.
Speaking with many of his old friends and fellow dealers, I’ve encountered a strong sense of respect for and about him. In the rare book business it's easier to make friends than money. Richard managed to do both.
That led me to ask some old friends to remember him and they were both quick and clear to send massages, sending him off to the great beyond.
Here is what they have to say.
Kenneth Karmiole: “Richard Murian was such a good man, always cooperative, always helpful and always a pleasure to be in his company. His training as a minister certainly helped form his good nature and people skills. Our relationship goes back to the 1970's when Richard was a librarian at Sacramento State University. Richard, Linda and staff over many years built a very interesting general antiquarian business, with a diverse inventory; the shop was one of the most important in the world of books in the American Southwest. We were both big believers in bibliographical reference books, and built significant reference libraries. He would call me from time to time when he needed help, and together we would try to determine the answer. He was interested in describing his books accurately, which is so important in our trade. I haven't seen Richard for some years, but we both knew that we were there for one another. I will miss him.”
Taylor Bowie: “I first met him and did a little business with him almost 20 years ago when he and a friend visited Seattle…one of those cases where you meet someone and in five minutes you feel connected as if you’d been friends for many years.
“We stayed in touch mostly by email…he was one of my most frequent buyers of my listings on the ABAA Trade list and any business transaction we made would also include some “chat” about other topics…everything from current politics to film to the history of the trade to stories of his own life as a librarian, etc.
“I hadn’t heard from him for a couple of months and was thinking about him on a Sunday…the next day I emailed him (I’m not a fan of the phone) to check in and tell him I missed our email chats…then a few days after that I heard from Linda that he had passed on that Sunday when I’d been thinking about him.
“He had so many interests and that spilled over into his taste in buying books for inventory…we are both dedicated generalists and sometimes we would express our wonder that any bookseller could restrict themselves to only one type of book…we both thought that was not a good way to get the most enjoyment out of working in the trade.”
Carol Sandberg: “I was very sad to hear about the death of Richard Murian, who was a friend of mine and of Michael R. Thompson Books for many years. I first met Richard in the mid-1970s, when he was working as a librarian at Cal State Sacramento. I was at the time working for Heritage Book Shop in Los Angeles. I had earned a library school degree at UCLA a couple of years before entering the trade, and one of my strong interests was building library collections. I am pleased to say that I was able to add a number of books to the Cal State Sacramento library.
“Richard shared the same interests, and we immediately became friends. I especially recall searching for scarce Californiana for him, including ephemeral and pamphlet material. There were a number of other dealers who also helped build the collections at Cal State Sacramento as well as many other library collections in the West. There was Herb Caplan at Argus Books in Sacramento, and of course Dawson’s Book Shop in Los Angeles, Ken Karmiole in Los Angeles, and Michael Thompson in Los Angeles. Also William Schneider, Dan Guice, and Alan Adrian, mostly from the Southern California area. I am leaving out some colleagues, I know, and I regret that because I valued every one of them. In so many ways, we all learned from each other.
“By this time, Richard had abandoned librarianship for bookselling, with his firm of Alcuin Books in the Phoenix area, and Michael and I had become business partners, along with Michael’s wife, Kathleen. We were all focused on library customers, and those were the days when there were many young libraries opening up. Booksellers then had no access to online catalogs. We checked our stock—and sometimes the stocks of colleagues, at card catalogs, looking for books the libraries did not have and that we could provide. Though this worked very effectively as long as we were willing to put in the leg work, it was exciting to watch the online systems develop. We did a lot of business in Arizona, and especially Arizona State University. When the new West Branch of Arizona State opened in Glendale, Arizona, they became an important customer of both ours and of Richard’s. Michael and I made many trips to the Phoenix area, usually visiting Richard, and later also visiting Linda Moore, who had become a partner in that firm. Michael and Richard particularly bonded because they shared an academic background in philosophy and religion.
“In later years, there was less reason to travel to Arizona, though we continued to do so occasionally, and we certainly did a number of book fairs that Richard also participated in.. But much of our contact was by phone—one of us calling the other to compare notes about books and customers. Richard never lost his curiosity, and I guess, neither did we. Having a chat with Richard never failed to make my day.
“He had a long, successful career in the book business, and a delightful shop. I know many customers and many libraries are in his debt, and he will particularly be missed in the Phoenix area. I myself will miss those calls.”
It isn't easy to be both highly respected and well-liked. Richard Murian achieved both. His 87 years were used well.
