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Health & Fitness

Patch Blog: Don, the Book Man of Montrose

The loss of a Harvest Market icon.

Most of us love Montrose because of the small-town feel. It’s not the bricks and mortar that make this place home, but rather her unique people.

It is with a heavy heart that I learned Montrose has lost one of its special folks. Don Francis, known by many of us who frequented the Sunday Harvest Market as “Don the Book Man" or “Ponytail Don,” passed away Sunday, April 15 following an extended illness.

I came to know Don about six years ago on my weekly visits to his book tables. At first I was drawn by the eclectic range of vintage books at extremely reasonable prices. One day I struck up a conversation, mentioning my upcoming trip to South Africa as a volunteer meerkat researcher, and asked Don if he would set aside any books on that topic. He said he’d be happy to, and then proceeded to ask me all about my planned adventure, hanging on every word and rubbing his hands with excitement as I shared details. Having watched Meerkat Manor, Don seemed beside himself upon learning that a gal from Montrose was traveling to the Kalahari to study the exact same meerkat family. From that day forward I was dubbed “Meerkat,” and each successive week brought more hand picked books on my topic, and further discussion. I think Don was more excited at my expedition than my own family, who never really understood my passion for traveling to odd corners of the world to follow odd animals around. Upon my return, I brought Don a little bottle of red Kalahari sand, which delighted him beyond words. I would have brought him a meerkat, but that might not have gone over too well with customs…

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We made plans to someday visit Fellow Earthlings, the only privately licensed meerkat reserve in North America, conveniently located here in Southern California.

The following year I returned from another overseas trip, and shared with Don a story about a charming fellow I had met, an Oxford-educated scuba instructor. We had become good friends by this point, and Don recognized the glimmer in my eye indicating that I was smitten. The next Sunday he asked if I had heard from “Oxford,” and I shared details of our blossoming long distance romance. As before, the special books that Don found for me mirrored my current passions; gorgeous books on diving and Fiji, where Oxford and I had met. Don was always eager to hear how things were progressing, and was happy to hear I had met a wonderful man, even if I had to fly across the ocean to have a date! When Oxford eventually came here for a visit, I think perhaps Don was the most overjoyed of anyone to meet him. Once we married, I insisted that Don call Oxford by his given name, Ben.

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Don clearly loved books. The special care he took in collecting and covering them in custom made dust jackets showed that. However, I think he loved people much more, and books were his connection to the people he loved. He took great delight in hunting down elusive tomes for his customers.

Ben, an avid reader, sold his collection of more than 30 Terry Pratchett novels when he left England to travel, and was hoping to rebuild his library now that he was settled. These books are not easy to come across in the States, but Don made it his mission to track them down, one by one, in glorious hard cover no less. Upon arriving each Sunday, we could always tell if Don had located another volume. He would jump up from his canvas chair with a start, rub his hands together and say “you’ll never guess what I found!” Reaching under his table, he would take the latest treasure out with reverence, smiling proudly when Ben confirmed that yes, this was indeed a book he didn’t already have. Looking back, I truly believe Don was more excited than Ben when an especially elusive title was located.

While Don was a fixture at the Harvest Market, this beloved man of Montrose did not even live in Montrose, but rather 80 miles away. He arose every Sunday morning at 2 a.m. to load up his van and make the drive from Yucaipa.

I know I’m not the only one who shared a love for Don. Just last summer when he paid a visit to our new home, one of our neighbors later said, “Hey, I noticed you had my book guy Don at your house!” On Sundays he held court, and there was often a line of regular customers awaiting their time with him. He took special delight in introducing us to one another, and his enthusiasm for us was palpable. Don found everyone fascinating, for one reason or another, and I don’t believe he ever tired of learning about others. In a society where so many of us are self-focused, he was a true listener, and was intrigued by his fellow man. As his booth neighbor and good friend Rick put it, “Don loved going to Montrose every week. His customers were his family."

I’ve always loved books, but those books on our shelves that came to us by way of Don will now hold a special place in my heart. Some were books he found at our request, but the dearest ones are works that Don chose for us, knowing that they would be a good fit for our personal library. They are no substitute for Don’s cheery smile and Sunday conversations, but they are his personal legacy, and I will look to them to keep me company when I am missing him.

Don was ill for quite some time, but loved Montrose so much that he continued to come out to the Market despite his discomfort. His tenacity and bravery led me to ignore the true seriousness of his illness, and I was shocked to hear of his passing. I’m so sorry we never made the trip to see the meerkats that we’d planned. I assumed we’d have plenty of time to get around to that, but life has a sneaky way of stealing time away. I hope to go soon and pet a meerkat in his honor.

If you have memories of Don, please add them below. He would be happy to know that his beloved Montrose was coming together and sharing stories, as he took such joy in introducing us to one another.

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