12 April 4 • 2019
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s a child, Neal Rubin loved 
nothing more than being in 
the family hammock, Dugout 
Jinx or Fiery Fullback in hand. The 
series featured Chip Hilton, a football/
basketball/baseball star who had pals 
like “Biggie” Cohen and “Red,” plus a 
swell girl, Mitzi, who was head cashier 
at the drugstore. Best of all, Chip was a 
stand-up guy who spoke 
up when other kids were 
bullied or excluded.
Today a columnist for 
the Detroit News and 
the longstanding honor-
ary chair of Bookstock, 
Rubin remains loyal to 
his boyhood buddy: He 
still owns the entire Chip 
Hilton series, and he gets 
a bit sentimental when 
talking about the happy 
times he spent with those 
books. But he notes that 
eventually author Clair Bee could barely 
stomach his annual obligation to chron-
icle Chip’
s wholesomeness, and the only 
way he could write was to “lock himself 
in his office for a week with his type-
writer and a case of whisky,” Rubin says. 

These days Rubin opts for mysteries, 
biographies and history when looking 
for something to read, and his favorite 
place to find them is at Bookstock, with 
more than 300,000 gently used CDs, 
DVDs, vinyl and, yes, books. 
Bookstock opens Sunday, April 7, and 
continues through April 14 at Laurel 
Park Place, 37700 Six Mile Road in 
Livonia. 
The event is entering 
into a new partnership 
with JVS Human Services, 
which will soon become 
its institutional home. 
Alycia Meriweather, 
deputy superintendent 
of the Detroit Public 
Schools, is honorary 
chancellor, and the Mike 
Morse Law Firm is 
Bookstock 2019’
s present-
ing sponsor. 
Since its inception in 
2002, Bookstock has raised more than 
$2 million for literacy and education 
projects throughout Michigan.
For the eighth year, Bookstock 
will sponsor an essay contest for 
fourth-graders where the winning stu-

dent, four runners-up and 10 honorable 
mentions, along with all their teachers 
and schools, receive a cash prize. The 
awards ceremony, which Rubin will 
host, will be broadcast live on WDIV 
Local 4. 
When Rubin heads to Bookstock, he 
knows the crowd and he enjoys hearing 
amazing stories, like the volunteer who 
found a cake recipe, in her late moth-
er’
s handwriting, left in a cookbook. 
Another woman bought every copy of 
A Day in the Life of America because 
it included a photo of her mother at a 
water aerobics class. The mother had 
since died, and seeing the picture was a 
way for her daughter to reconnect. 
Rubin will wander over to the 
Bookstock history table, where he 
might pick up a title about WWII. He’
s 
always happy to find — “pounce on,” he 
says — a book by a friend like the late 
Elmore Leonard, or Love in the Driest 
Season by Neely Tucker, the true story 
of a couple who adopt a girl left to die 
in a field in Zimbabwe. Rubin says he 
was “sobbing” by the end. 
A lot of times he’
ll buy something “I 
didn’
t even know I wanted” and then 
it becomes a favorite, like Brainiac: 

Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, 
Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs by 
Jeopardy champ Ken Jennings (“It’
s 
screamingly funny,” Rubin says).
From Bookstock, titles find their way 
to Farmington Hills where Rubin, the 
father of two sons, lives with his wife, 
Marcy Hayes. He’
s always reading four 
books at the same time, so one will be 
on his nightstand (now it’
s Killers of 
the Flower Moon), one in the basement 
for when he’
s doing laundry (“I’
m the 
laundry god in our house”) and one in 
the car, in case he’
s left waiting some-
where. Finally, he’
ll take one to work for 
lunchtime because “Me, a sandwich and 
a book; it’
s fabulous.” ■

For information about Bookstock:

(248) 645-7840, ext. 365.

Bookstock Honorary Chairperson 
Neal Rubin opens the 2018 BEST 
Awards ceremony.

jews d
in 
the

Big, Bold, Bountiful – 
and a lot of fun!

Journalist Neal Rubin discusses the many wonders of Bookstock, 
opening April 7.

ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Bookstock: 

In addition to books, Bookstock includes a large 
collection of vinyl, DVDs and CDs.

Hours and Events

Sundays 11 a.m.-6 p.m. 
Monday-Saturday 10 a.m.-9 p.m. 

EVENTS
• Pre-sale: Sunday, April 7, 8:15-11 
a.m. ($20 admission charge)
• Monday Madness: Monday, April 
8. The first 2,000 shoppers receive 
giveaways and a chance to win a 
$100 VISA gift card every hour. 
• Teacher Appreciation Days: 
Tuesday and Wednesday, April 9 and 
10. From 3-9 p.m., teachers (with a 
valid 
ID) receive 50 percent off.
• BEST Awards: Tuesday, April 
9, 5 p.m.: Presented to Detroit 
Public Schools Community District 
fourth-graders who wrote the 
top essays on “My Favorite Book 
Character… and Why.”
• Bookbuster Days: Thursday and 
Friday, April 11 and 12: From 3-9 
p.m., buy three books and the 
fourth (least expensive item) is free. 
Plus: Spend $25 or more on either 
night and be entered in a drawing 
for skates signed by Olympic Gold 
Medalist Meryl Davis; four tickets to 
a Detroit Tigers game; or two grand-
stand tickets to the Chevrolet Detroit 
Grand Prix presented by Lear.
• Cookstock: Saturday, April 13. 
All cookbooks are half price, with 
cooking and dining prizes awarded 
throughout the day.
• Half-price Finale: Sunday, April 29: 

