Storied Charlotte
Storied Charlotte
  • Home
  • Storied Charlotte
  • Monday Missive

Contact Me

Office: Fretwell 290D
Phone: 704-687-0618
Email: miwest@uncc.edu

Links

  • A Reader’s Guide to Fiction and Nonfiction books by Charlotte area authors
  • Charlotte book art
  • Charlotte Lit
  • Charlotte Readers Podcast
  • Charlotte Writers Club
  • Column on Reading Aloud
  • Department of English
  • JFK/Harry Golden column
  • Park Road Books
  • Storied Charlotte YouTube channel
  • The Charlotte History Tool Kit
  • The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Story

Archives

  • August 2025
  • July 2025
  • June 2025
  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013

Monthly Archives: August 2025

Remembering John Barringer and His Contributions to Charlotte’s Literary Community 

August 05, 2025 by Mark West
Categories: Storied Charlotte

John Barringer, the founder of the store now known as Park Road Books, died on July 17, 2025, at the age of ninety. John’s lasting impact on Charlotte’s literary community began in 1977 when he opened the Little Professor Book Center in the Park Road Shopping Center. In August of 1999, Sally Brewster joined the store, and they changed the name to Park Road Books.  Sally bought the store from John in 2003, after which John officially retired. 

John’s retirement did not mean that his involvement in the world of books was over.  Working as a volunteer, he helped create Julia’s Café & Books as part of the Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region’s ReStore at 1144 N. Wendover Road. John was also a collector of rare and signed books. In 2012, he donated these books to the Queens University of Charlotte Special Collections.  Now known as the John Barringer Book Collection, these books are on display in the mezzanine of the Everett Library on the campus of Queens University.

I first met John shortly after I moved to Charlotte in 1984.  I quickly became a regular customer at Little Professor. When the name changed to Park Road Books, I kept calling the store Little Professor out of habit. I often talked with John about our shared commitment to resisting censorship. I remember John telling me that as a former Lutheran minister, he did not always personally like the values represented in all of the books that he sold in the store, but he believed that his store should include a wide range of books representing a wide range of viewpoints. He told me once about a customer who demanded that he remove a particular young adult novel from the store because she thought the book was “sinful,” but he refused to stop selling the book.

John and I also shared an interest in children’s books, and he made sure that the store was welcoming to children. After my wife and I became parents, we often brought our young son to the store. Together, we enjoyed checking out the new picture books. Many of these picture books came home with us.

John was very involved with the Dilworth Rotary Club.  In 2020 the club invited me to give a talk about the importance of children’s literature and literacy at one of their meetings, and John introduced me.  In an email that he sent to me before the meeting, he wrote, “I fondly recall your visits to the bookstore where you always brought your son.”  I fondly recall those days, too.  

Like many other book lovers, I will long remember John and his many contributions to Storied Charlotte. 

Tags: John BarringerPark Road Books
Skip to toolbar
  • Log In