Ken Lopez on Vietnam, Book Collecting and Author Archives

Ken Lopez is a renowned antiquarian bookseller who deals in rare books, specializing in modern literary first editions. He regularly issues catalogs of modern literature and less regularly, of native American literature, the literature of the Vietnam war and the 1960s, and nature writing. He also has an established record of placing authors' archives in institutional collections.

Ken is a former President of the Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America. He operates out of Hadley, Massachusetts, where I met him to talk about, among other things, collecting books about the Vietnam War, grunts, Tim O'Brien, Raymond Carver, Mario Puzo's 'sleeping with the fishes,' native American literature, climate fiction, nature writing, John Burroughs, wildlife photography, the social value of book collecting, asking the question of your collection 'is it something people/scholars can learn from?' author archives, the importance of association copies, Ken Kesey, the editor's copy of the proofs of The Lord of the Rings, Michael Ondaatje's archive at the Harry Ransom Center, and learning throughout life.