Meet for Coffee at the Bruce: Diane Garrett, of Diane's Books
Saturday, October 5, 2024, 9:00-10:30 am, Aux Délices at the Bruce Café
Diane Garrett, the beloved owner of Diane’s Books, embodies the spirit of community and connection that "Meet for Coffee at the Bruce" seeks to cultivate. As the last of Greenwich's original independent bookstores, Diane’s Books is more than just a store; it’s a cherished gathering place where conversations about books and ideas have flourished for over three decades. Diane has fostered a culture where reading is a shared family experience, echoing our own mission at the Bruce Museum to create spaces where culture and conversation come to life.
Diane's unique perspective as a "book matchmaker" and her commitment to helping people find the right book for every reader aligns seamlessly with the goals of our series—to spark meaningful discussions and bring people together around shared interests. Her passion for literature, coupled with her welcoming, judgment-free approach, makes her an ideal guest to inspire our audience. Whether it's a story about Greenwich’s rich literary history or her insights on fostering a love for reading across generations, Diane’s presence promises an engaging dialogue that fits the welcoming, conversational atmosphere we’re cultivating at the Bruce Museum Café.
About Diane Garrett:
Garrett hails from Sudbury, a nickel mining town in northern Ontario, Canada--where her father was both miner and actor. Her mother read to the family every day when they were young which instilled in Diane a passion for books that persists to this day. (Side note--Sudbury is also the childhood home town of Alex Trebek of Jeopardy! fame-sadly they never meet despite being only 1 year apart in age! so maybe there is something literary in the water!)
Diane was astonished to learn there was no bookstore dedicated to children in the Greenwich area. She felt the need to do something about it and attend to the rest of the family at the same time. “I wanted the whole family to read,” Diane says. “We can’t raise lifelong readers unless everybody’s reading in the family”.
An expert on all things literary, Diane's literary prowess and local celebrity is noticed by many in Greenwich. Flash forward 32 and counting! years from the store opening and her formula hasn’t changed a bit, the shop is still bursting with books and her customers keep coming back. For Diane, It’s about the customer and everything else follows. Her judgment free attitude (“I don’t care what you read, as long as you’re reading,” ) and her highly selective inventory (“Every book we have is there for a reason.”) keeps customers repeatedly returning for book selection assistance and gift recommendations. Some even refer to her as “the book matchmaker.”
