Good story in today’s City section with a really nice pix of Catherine and others (is that Josh, THE Josh? and who’s the other guy) in the back of the store.

I just wish the lizard had been more visible.

Here’s an excerpt from the article about the beginning of the community crusade to save the bookstore from foreclosure last winter:

It was around this time that Erika Doering, a local interior designer, paid a visit to the store and found Ms. Bohne in tears behind the register. Ms. Doering went home, telephoned a dozen loyal customers and invited them to a meeting in which participants divvied up responsibilities. Within a week, Ms. Bohne and a local real estate investor named David Sweeny had drawn up a business plan for the store and contacted the bank to renegotiate the loan.

In April, an investment offering went out in which Ms. Bohne offered up to 49 percent ownership in the store to a group of friends willing to put up at least $10,000 apiece. So far, six people have signed up, including the actor John Turturro, a neighborhood resident and longtime customer.

“I’d never done this with a store,” Mr. Turturro said. “But now as I’m getting older, all these great small bookstores and art house movie theaters, so many things I love, are being swallowed up by a supermarket mentality.”

The business is not out of the woods. Ms. Bohne has yet to work out a payment plan with one of her biggest distributors, and as a result, some shelves are still empty. She is still seeking another dozen investors, and the bank loan will be up for renegotiation in three years. But sales have been running well ahead of projections, and Ms. Bohne’s de facto business manager, Mr. Sweeny, sees things looking up.

“It seemed, at first glance, pretty bleak,” he said. “The creditors were at the door. But at least for now, I’m cautiously optimistic.”