Take It From
MIKE and RAY ABRAMS
GREAT FOOD
Doesn't Come Any Better
Than This
Lunch or Dinner • Kitchen Open Mon.-Sat. 11-Mid.
Black-and-white scenes of old Detroit
hang high near the ceiling, above the
neat but jam-packed bookshelves.
There are small, $1 activity booklets for
children and often catchy descriptions
for subject categories (you'll see not just
"biography" and "genealogy," but
"shoplifters' favorites" here).
Rosenthal often buys books at state
sales, then sells about 50 percent of
them on the Internet. Many sellers
also just walk through the door with a
treasure or two.
"Don't bring me anything about diet
— or fiction unless it's [William]
Faulkner," he says. "But I do want
hard covers on button collecting, air-
craft carriers, belly dancing — inter-
esting subjects."
Sometimes, he'll find boxes of
books abandoned on his front door in
the morning, much like babies were
four-string variety, used for performing
favorites of the 1920s and '30s.
"When I heard these guys at the club
playing ragtime, I said, 'That's what I
want to do' — that's what I remember
from my childhood," he says — which
is how Rosenthal came to own the
banjo he now uses in concert.
At first, Rosenthal found his stage in
front of his bookstore. He would sit
out on warm evenings, pick up his
banjo and play, and wave at passersby.
He was surprised to see that some of his
biggest fans were teens, who gave him the
thumbs-up sign as he plucked out some
old-fashioned tune like the Gershwin
brothers' tender "Somebody Loves Me."
Next, he began volunteering to play
at homes for veterans and senior citi-
zens. Then one evening he looked next
door and saw a movie theater that "sits
here empty 90 percent of the time."
• Home-Made Chopped Sirloin!
• Excellent Lamb Chops! • Terrific Steaks!
•
Delicious
Broiled
Salmon!
•
Home-Made Meat Loaf!
• Wonderful Trout!
Fri.
&
Sat.
Only)
• Juicy Surf & Turf! (
• Home-Made Soups!
Appearing Saturday, June 9
ROAD RAGE
We lake ligh
Prides) Our
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bileVee's
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23380 TELEGRAPH, BETWEEN 9 AND 10 MILE • Southfield
(248) 352-8243
Paul Kohn 's
La Difference
17 Dinner C°cN(N'
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Carry-Out Special
Atlantic Salmon • Chicken Noodle Soup • La Difference Salad
Stuffed Chicken Breast,* Vegetable & Potato Du Jour • Halavah
only $ 9900
SERVES
S PEOPLE
To Order Call
248-932-8934
Staff photos by Krisra Husa
in the 1930s and 1940s. "I tell people
I don't take anything for free," he
says. "But what can you do? I get a lot
of people saying, lust take them,'
because our culture says books
shouldn't be thrown away."
Hanging in the front of Books
Abound there's even a sign that says,
" kan midabreem ivreet" ("Hebrew
Spoken Here"). Rosenthal doesn't get
too many requests, but "I have had a
few take me up on it."
From Books To Banjo
Life might have stayed pretty much
the same had it not been for the fact
that Rosenthal's second wife, Alice
McCoy, loves to decorate.
Inside the family's Southfield I- ome
McCoy had hung a banjo, simply
because she liked ti.e way it looked.
One afternoon her husband sat across
from the banjo and suddenly realized,
"Somebody ought to learn how to play
that thing." So he picked up a teach-
yourself-how-to-play-the-banjo book by
Pete Seeger, and he went to work.
Rosenthal's first banjo had five strings,
popularly used in playing folk music.
Then he joined a banjo club and dis-
covered that most musicians prefer the
He thought about performing free
concerts outside, but officials liked his
music so much they asked Rosenthal
to come on in before the movies.
Though Rosenthal loves playing, he
admits it's a challenge every time he
goes down to the front of the theater,
where he sits on a tall stool and where
everyone can see him — all those peo-
ple just looking and sitting quietly.
"I'm basically shy," he says.
Last year, Rosenthal took off some
time from books and music and went
to New York to learn Yiddish. He can
speak some, he says, but he finally
realized he'll probably never be fluent.
"There isn't enough time in life to
do everything," he says. ❑
UR GREAT
SPECIALS!
7295 Orchard Lake Road
West Bloomfield
NE- YAR D BAR J
,1_1L1
1, /P
RIBS
Family Restaurant
OPEN 7 DAYS —11 a.m. to 12 Mid.
SLAB FOR 2
BBQ CHICKEN FOR 2
$2 OFF
Includes: 2 Potatoes,
2 Slaws and 2 Garlic Breads
• 1 Coupon Per Order • Dine In or Cany-Out • Expires•-21-2001 JN
$2 OFF
With or
Without Skin
Includes: 2 Potatoes,
2 Slaws and 2 Garlic Breads
• 1 Coupon Per Order • Dine in or Cany-Out • Expires 6-21-2001 JN
ORCHARD LAKE RD. SOUTH OF 14 • Farm. Hills • 851-7000
LOCATION
A G INIZOVIgt
6676 Orchard Lake Rd.
West Bloomfield Plaza
West Bloomfield
TEL 248-851-8782
Fiddler
INTERNATIONAL DINING
Skip Rosenthal plays free 15-
minute banjo concerts preceding
each movie screening Friday and
Saturday evenings at the
Farmington Civic Theater, locat-
ed at the corner of Grand River
and Farmington in downtown
Farmington. The theater screens
second-run features, and tickets
are $2.50 adults/$1.50 children
11 and under. For movies and
times, call (248) 474-1951.
Advance Notice
Needed
FAX 248-851-7685
FOOD AND
SPIRITS
"THE BEST FRESH
SAPPORO
Japanese Restaurant
BREAKFAST,
LUNCH & DINNER
TRAYS FOR
ALL OCCASIONS
LIVE MUSIC FOR LISTENING,
& DANCING
EVERY FRIDAY & SATURDAY
LIVE VIOLIN MUSIC
EVERY TUESDAY
SATURDAY & SUNDAY
BANQUET FACILITIES
FOR ALL EVENTS
248-851-8782
susor'
Lunch Special Bento $6.75
Sushi Lunch Special $7.95
Dinner Special
(Teriyaki or Tempura)
2 For Only $19.95
r
:5% OFF YOUR BILL:
(Dinner Only) I
8835 Orchard Lake Rd., West Bloomfield, MI 48322
(at Old Orchard Mai, Farmer Jack Carter)
(248) 628-8111
6/8
2001
75