Years ago, before I was a graduate student teacher at the New College of California, in about 2003, when I was living in the Piedmont area of Oakland, close to Mountain View Cemetery, in the magical shack mansion on John Street, I frequented a print shop that was around the corner from me. Once, I ordered prints of a book for some research I was working on and the owner handed them over to me as he said, "My name is also Youssef" with a smile. We were friends ever since. He introduced me to his kids Badar and Fatima. I mostly dealt with Youssef, but once he gave the shop over to the kids, the business exploded with an amazing abundance. I soon developed a great friendship with Badar and Fatima. Youssef (the father) had told me years ago (he came up in the printing business after working at Krishna Copy in Berkeley for umpteen years) that he would beat anyone's price in town. I told my friends. In 2013 I was proud to refer JK Fowler of Nomadic Press to their services. For over 20 years they have been rolling steadily along, growing. Until COVID hit. Their circulation is down, orders are dwindling. JK Fowler saw the need and heroically created this GoFundMe page. The family is in dire need. Pitch in a few bucks or a whole lotta bucks to help this sweet family-owned business that prints so much of the Bay Area's poetry zines and books. They made my class readers. They print all my business cards. They print the chapbooks I make for Paper Press. This shop is an essential Oakland resource. Please do not let them vanish in the COVID haze.
