Kentucky

I enjoyed the following story about a local artisan who practices bookbinding the old fashioned way.  Read the story, and make a note that if you have any of your old law books that need the binders repaired, then call her.  Other books that you might have that might be need for preservation include classic books, family Bibles, etc.  Some of these books constitute your legacy to your children, and their heritage from you.

The internet is fine, but nothing matches putting your hands around an old book and sitting down at night to a good read, a warm cup of coffee or cocoa, and letting your imagination run afar without the bright monitor staring you in the face and "you got mail" popping out of your speakers!

Here's Byron Crawford's column on Amanda from June 11, 2008 in the Courier Journal. 

Bookbinder facing grim chapter in life

You won't find Amanda Buck's story in the government's economic statistics, or in one of those thumbnail "people" briefs in a newspaper business section. ** *

Buck's restoration of treasured rare books, using methods passed down by second-century Coptic monks and performed in a studio in a dairy barn in rural Spencer County, would seem a picture of peaceful seclusion.

Yet Buck's story is now bound uncertainly to America's worsening economic dilemma.

"I'm talking to other bookbinders around the country and the squeeze is on," she said this week. "Getting something restored, or getting a new binding, is a luxury. So that's one of the first things to go when everybody's paying four or five bucks a gallon for gas and uncertain of where things are going. " * * *

The harsh reality for Buck, and perhaps many others, is that extraordinarily good work may not be enough to ensure a steady income if the economy continues to worsen.

Buck, 40, is living below the poverty level and without health insurance. Though she is eligible for government assistance, she receives only health coverage for her daughter, for whom she draws no child support.

"The worse-case scenario would be that the work would just flat-out stop, and that would just be the end of it," said Buck. "And I don't know what I would do, because I've done this for almost 20 years and I'm a relic."

She has sent out inquiries to book conservators around the country and is considering the possibility of work in retail sales many miles from her home. But the high price of gasoline would make it impractical to take most jobs in town, and she could not afford to relocate on the income from most jobs.

She and Kendall have a large vegetable garden and chickens, and they plan to do a lot of canning this summer.

For more information on her bookbinding work, go to www.book-restoration.com.

You won't find Amanda Buck's story in the government's economic statistics, or in one of those thumbnail "people" briefs in a newspaper business section.

There is not much ink given these days to those who quietly earn their livelihoods by saving old books.

Buck's restoration of treasured rare books, using methods passed down by second-century Coptic monks and performed in a studio in a dairy barn in rural Spencer County, would seem a picture of peaceful seclusion.

Yet Buck's story is now bound uncertainly to America's worsening economic dilemma.

"I'm talking to other bookbinders around the country and the squeeze is on," she said this week. "Getting something restored, or getting a new binding, is a luxury. So that's one of the first things to go when everybody's paying four or five bucks a gallon for gas and uncertain of where things are going. "

Two years ago, we traced Buck's career path from the University of Minnesota, where she earned a history degree, to Guildford College in Surrey, England, where she studied fine bookbinding dating to the Middle Ages. She worked at Harcourt Bindery in Boston before serving as a partner and apprentice for a decade with master binder Richard Lamb in the Lamb & Buck Bindery in Bennington, Vt. There, she helped restore books for various museums and universities.

When her marriage ended, Buck decided to relocate to Kentucky with her 4-year old daughter, Kendall, on 15 acres of her family's land. The loft of a former dairy barn has made a comfortable residence and functional studio.

"I have entrusted her with some really rare old books that she has treated with great care and expertise," said Dr. Robert Sexton of Louisville, a retired neurosurgeon. "She does extraordinarily good work."

The harsh reality for Buck, and perhaps many others, is that extraordinarily good work may not be enough to ensure a steady income if the economy continues to worsen.

Buck, 40, is living below the poverty level and without health insurance. Though she is eligible for government assistance, she receives only health coverage for her daughter, for whom she draws no child support.

"The worse-case scenario would be that the work would just flat-out stop, and that would just be the end of it," said Buck. "And I don't know what I would do, because I've done this for almost 20 years and I'm a relic."

She has sent out inquiries to book conservators around the country and is considering the possibility of work in retail sales many miles from her home. But the high price of gasoline would make it impractical to take most jobs in town, and she could not afford to relocate on the income from most jobs.

She and Kendall have a large vegetable garden and chickens, and they plan to do a lot of canning this summer.

For more information on her bookbinding work, go to www.book-restoration.com.

Byron Crawford's column appears on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Reach him at (502) 582-4791 or bcrawford@courier-journal.com. Comment on this column, and read previous columns, at www.courier-journal.com/byron.