Street: How would you describe your bookstore's role in the community? You're kind of sandwiched between a variety of large corporate industries.
Larry Moltz: Oh, we're much better than them. We have books on all subjects, a lot of out-of-print books. People come in and are extremely surprised to find them here. They're real treasures.
Street: Any striking examples?
LM: Sure, thousands of them. I just can't think of any offhand. [discusses location of knitting book with customer] Sorry, what were you saying? This is what my life is, I can't carry on a conversation for more than five seconds... which is fine, I mean...
Street: Who needs conversations? So what are your favorite books? I noticed some Allen Ginsberg and Charles Bukowski on display.
LM: We put books out that people like. Those things on display are eye-catchers. Ginsberg and Bukowski are two of the more popular authors.
Street: Who are your personal favorites?
LM: People ask me that all the time. Things just fall into my lap. When something looks interesting, I'll take it home, read it and then bring it back. I don't have any favorites. I read way too much even to choose my top 100.
Street: All your books are equally special?
LM: There's a lot of them, yeah.
Street: Do you ever notice someone purchasing something, and just think in the back of your head, "Man, this is an awful choice"?
LM: No, we don't have any awful choices here. We weed them out before they go to the shelves. People bring in such junk sometimes, and we just say, "Thank you, no," or we donate them. But you can come in here with books to sell for cash or store credit, and we also have about 50,000 books on display.
Street: So where did the name "The Last Word" come from?
LM: The very first name I thought of was "The Last Word" and it came from a little gauge that was in my grandfather's toolbox that I inherited from him after he died, a little pressure thing with a needle on it. It's probably from about the 1920s.
Street: So it's a nostalgic "last word?" That's kind of ironic.
LM: Well, I think it's just a good name for a bookstore.
