On-Air Send-Off Celebrates Suzy Staubach

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The Wayne Norman Show, which airs on WILI in Willimantic, Connecticut, honored UConn Co-op’s Suzy Staubach last week in a radio broadcast featuring authors and colleagues Wally Lamb, Lynn Bloom, Sam Pickering, and Bruce Cohen. Earlier this year, Staubach announced her plans to retire this summer from her post as manager of the general books division at the Storrs, Connecticut, bookstore.

“Suzy has been the heart and soul of the bookstore. She would literally give her life for the books that she sells,” Bloom said of Staubach, who has been with the bookstore for 34 years.

What makes UConn Co-op so special, noted Lamb, is the hand-selling. “You go in and you get a recommendation from Suzy and you know that it’s not going to be a one-size-fits-all recommendation. She gets to know her customers and know what you like and what you will like, so it’s a guided tour through the bookstore,” Lamb said. “This will continue when Suzy leaves the store. It’s going to be in the hands of a great staff — warm, friendly people, all of whom read. I can’t say enough for the way Suzy has trained them and set the standard for really terrific customer service.”

To commemorate Staubach’s tenure at UConn Co-op, her colleagues organized a cash mob last weekend, June 27–28, inviting everyone in the area to visit the bookstore to purchase a book in her honor.

Staubach is a former ABA Board member and past president of the Connecticut Center for the Book and the New England Independent Booksellers Association. She has also served on the Board of the American Booksellers Foundation for Freedom of Expression and on ABA’s Digital Task Force.

In 2008, Staubach won the Lifetime Achievement in Service to the Literary Community Award, presented by the Connecticut Center for the Book.

In her retirement, Staubach plans to spend more time on her writing and pottery as well as with family and friends. She also plans to continue in her role as co-chair of the Connecticut Children’s Book Fair. She will be succeeded at UConn Co-op by Bob Smith, who has been with the bookstore since 2012 and was previously with Curbstone Press.