Carol Seajay
Carol Seajay | |
|---|---|
| Occupation(s) | Advocate, bookseller, editor, publisher |
| Known for | Cofounder of Old Wives Tales bookstore; editor and publisher of Feminist Bookstore News |
Carol Seajay is an American advocate and former bookseller known for cofounding the Old Wives Tales bookstore in San Francisco. She also served as the editor and publisher of Feminist Bookstore News for more than two decades, concluding in 2000.
In recognition of her contributions, Seajay was honored with the Michele Karlsberg Leadership Award by the Publishing Triangle in 2008.
Early life
Seajay pursued her studies at the University of Michigan. During her senior year, she worked as an abortion counselor but was dismissed after her sexual orientation as a lesbian became public. Following this, she bought a motorcycle and moved to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1974.
Activity in the Bay Area
Upon settling in San Francisco in January 2021, Seajay enrolled in courses at a free school and became involved with a feminist worker cooperative bookstore called the Full Moon Cafe and Bookstore, which ultimately closed due to hosting unlicensed events.
A few months later, she connected with A Woman's Place, a feminist bookstore in Oakland co-founded by Forest Milne and operated as a worker-owned collective. Seajay volunteered there and eventually joined its worker collective. Together with Paula Wallace, who was both a colleague and her romantic partner at the time, she applied for financing from the San Francisco Feminist Federal Credit Union to establish their own bookstore.
Old Wives Tales
While attending the First National Women in Print Conference held in Nebraska, Seajay learned that their loan application had been approved. On October 31, 1976, she and Wallace launched Old Wives Tales at 532 Valencia Street in San Francisco’s Mission Dolores district.
Old Wives Tales functioned as a feminist bookstore that showcased titles from independent publishers and acted as a gathering place for women. After Seajay and Wallace ended their partnership in 1978 and Wallace moved away, the store relocated to 1009 Valencia Street. Seajay reorganized it into a worker-owned collective. In 1983, this collective incorporated Old Wives Tales as a nonprofit entity; that same year, Seajay stepped down. The bookstore ultimately closed its doors permanently in October 1995.
Feminist Bookstore News
Following her participation at the First National Women in Print Conference, Seajay created Feminist Bookstore News to sustain communication among attendees. The publication was initiated with $100 contributions from each of the five largest feminist bookstores. Its inaugural issue was released on October 14, 1976.
By 1983, Seajay transitioned from bookstore operations to dedicating herself full-time to publishing FBN, supplementing her earnings through part-time work as a FedEx driver. In 1990, she received the Publisher's Service award during the second Lambda Literary Awards ceremony.
She continued editing and publishing Feminist Bookstore News until its final edition appeared in summer 2000. Over time, it became an essential trade journal for feminist publishers, printers, and booksellers.
Books to Watch Out For
In 2003, Seajay introduced an online newsletter titled Books to Watch Out For, which included a lesbian-focused version edited by herself and a gay men's edition overseen by Richard Labonté.