For some 45 years Eric Furry held court at his popular hangout known as Pro Libris Books on Third Street.
But Pro Libris wasn’t just about books for his customers and yes, friends.
“Tacked up around the store were notes, cartoons, and quotes that reflected Eric’s personality and intelligence,” says longtime fan Cindy Campbell. “He knew his stuff when it came to books and could help you find anything you were looking for.”
Campbell, news director for Townsquare Media in Bangor and is a co-host of the Q-106.5 Morning Show, wrote a remembrance of Furry, who died January 18 at a Bangor Hospital.
“Eric loved motorcycles, so he and my husband would talk about what he was riding, while I admired the ‘Opus the Penguin’ statue behind the counter, or stroked the cat I’ve heard adopted Furry after it walked into the store one day,” Campbell writes.
The store, “small to begin with,” she recalled, “was even more cramped, jammed with capacity with books.
“There were so many, in fact, there’s somewhere always piled on the floor by the shelves,” Campbell said.
She talked about what it was like walking into the store.
“My nose was instantly filled with the smell of dust and aging paper,” Campbell recalled. “The shop was never dirty, mind you, but there were just so many used books that it was all you could smell. I loved it.”
When Furry would leave his home in the morning he only had a short walk to work – 10 feet away from his house was his shop.
“Brown shoulder-length hair, flowing but somewhat controlled by a Stetson hat, a Teddy Roosevelt mustache trimmed neatly, a bright white dress shirt with tweedy wool blazer topping his cutoff dungarees and Birkenstock sandals, Eric Furry was ready to start his day,” his obituary says.
Campbell calls him “a special man who will be greatly missed.”
