GRISAMORE: Gray woman writes final chapter of Kema's Hobby

The emotions run deeper when a local business closes.

The goodbyes are more heartfelt, especially when we know where the owner goes to church, her birthday or favorite color.

There is less love lost with the chain stores, where the nametags often change with the dates on the circular ads. Small business folks spend their nights worrying about how to keep their doors open, then joyfully get out of bed each morning to unlock them.

Kema Greene Clark opened her bookstore in downtown Gray on Feb. 4, 2006. On Thursday, as darkness fell across the eve of the new year, the last page was turned at Kema's Hobby.

A decade is not a long time to be in business, even in bookworm years. But you can keep your finger pressed against the hole in the dam for only so long.

"I thought I would be here until I died," she said.

In 2005, she retired to her Jones County roots after a 26-year career with Ford Motor Credit. Her job had moved her around from California to Nebraska, Oklahoma, Michigan and Tennessee. Working for Ford was like being in the military. Every time she was transferred, they packed her up and shipped her out. By the time she got back to Georgia, she had more than 8,000 books in tow.

Not only was she an avid reader, but she also was a certified bibliophile. She surrounded herself with the comfort of books, even if she never read them all. Friends and family filled her walls with words. She rarely walked away from a flea market or yard sale without balancing a stack of paperbacks in her hands.

So, opening a bookstore was -- pardon the pun -- a novel idea. She found a location in the heart of Gray at the confluence of the railroad tracks and three highways. In previous lives, the building had been a men's clothing store, dry cleaner, drug store and dance studio. She loved her hometown's revival of brick sidewalks and antique street lamps, and she soon began stocking her homemade shelves with everything from Harry Potter to Nicholas Sparks, cookbooks and Bibles.

Westerns have always been her passion. She grew up riding horses and playing cowboys and Indians. (She has read every book Louis L'Amour ever wrote.)

Her parents named her Kema after her Aunt Jewel's close friend, a full-blooded Indian. By the time she started school, the nickname "Kemo Sabe," which means "trusty scout," stuck like boot spurs.

It also is how she came up with the playful name of her store, Kema's Hobby. For many years, a life-size cutout of the Lone Ranger and Tonto stood guard at the front window, keeping watch over the passing trains and logging trucks until the morning sun began to fade their complexions.

Every now and then, someone might confuse the name with a hobby shop. Once a man called and asked if she had any R.C. Of course, he meant "Remote Control." Kema thought a friend was cutting up with her, and she played along. "Yeah, we have R.C. ... and some Moon Pies, too," she said, laughing.

She has run the kind of honest business that makes a difference in a community. She donated large-print books to local nursing homes and sent boxes of books to soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Although her customers have remained loyal, the bottom line no longer carried the same bounce. It wasn't necessarily the big-box Barnes & Noble or the cyber bookstore Amazon playing the roles of executioner. The popularity of electronic books (e-books) has exacted a toll on readership habits.

"It's not a bad thing or a sad thing," she said. "It's just the way it is ... like the horse and buggy when cars came along."

Retail studies have shown a trend toward nontraditional book venues, with fewer books and a heavy blend of coffee and baked goods. Kema can't see replacing her single-serve Kuerig coffee maker with a giant java machine.

"Maybe," she said, "if I was 30 years younger."

It's not time for the rocking chair, though. She plans to remain active with Main Street Gray and the Downtown Development Authority. With the help of her son, Jim, a local artist, she will convert her Ford Edge into a bookmobile. She will roll into neighborhoods a couple of times each week, giving away books to young people.

She has kept a journal on the life of her bookshop. Perhaps there is a book in there, waiting to come out.

Ed Grisamore teaches journalism and creative writing at Stratford Academy in Macon. He can be reached at edgrisamore@gmail.com.

This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 9:04 PM with the headline "GRISAMORE: Gray woman writes final chapter of Kema's Hobby ."