Page 40 June 2011 Store’s success no mystery By Lindsay Ivins A woman looking to retire was urged by her husband to open up a bookstore and exercise her librarian muscles. That woman is Barbara Peters, owner of The Poisoned Pen in Scottsdale, who has made a living reading approximately 300 books per month. “My husband felt that I should have something daily to do,” Peters said. “He wasn’t interested in retiring.” Born and raised in Winnetka, Ill., Peters had traveled to Phoenix since 1951 because her paraplegic grandfather wintered there. She graduated from Stanford University and majored in political science and the University of Tennessee with a master’s degree in history and library science. Peters went on to become an intern at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. and completed graduate work at Oxford. After her career as a Chicago lawyer drew long, she decided to move to Arizona where most of her family had moved to in 1967. Continued on page 41 KEEP DAD COOL KEEP DAD COOL THIS ƻ UM 0 ER! THIS ƻ UM 0 ER! Family Owned & Operated Licensed, Bonded & Insured Service & Install on all Makes & Models Free Estimates on New Equipment R NJƻ ID NJ N ƼƮ AL & COM 0 ER ǨƮ AL R NJƻ ID NJ N ƼƮ AL & COM 0 ER ǨƮ AL REBATES & CREDITS AVAILABLE! I Ǖ S Ƽ A ǒ L $ N Ʃ W I Ǖ S Ƽ A ǒ L $ N Ʃ W NJ NV , ƺǖ ƴ 0NJ N Ƽ A dz ǒ Y NJ NV , ƺǖ ƴ 0NJ N Ƽ A dz ǒ Y F ƺ , NJǕLjǒ Y $ /C ǜ ǣ ST Ʃ 0 ! F ƺ , NJǕLjǒ Y $ /C ǜ ǣ ST Ʃ 0 ! ROC Licenses: 80131, 80132, 80133 q p R E F R I G E R AT I O N  A I R C O N D I T I O N I N G  R E S I D E N T I A L  C O M M E R C I A L 3231 East Washington 602-957-3745 www.AccuTempAZ.com Bill Murley, President ACCUTEMP IS AN APS/SRP QUALIFIED CONTRACTOR $ /C • + Ʃ $Ƽ I Ǖ G • Ʊ OW T Ʃǔ P • , Ǩ E M $Ǩ HINE & M 2 RE! $ /C • + Ʃ $Ƽ I Ǖ G • Ʊ OW T Ʃǔ P • , Ǩ E M $Ǩ HINE & M 2 RE! I.S.A . CERTIFIED ARBORISTS ON STAFF & CREWS Fully Insured / Licensed / Bonded Contractor - ROC # 251150 Call us at 480.820.3939 or visit us at Bartlett.com 480-820-3939 Call for a Free Consultation Professional Pruning Root Zone Fertilization Insect & Disease Management Hazard Tree Evaluations & Removals Root – Rx Program Aerial Lift Technical Support by our Research Laboratories Cabling & Bracing Serving the Valley for over 25 years! Serving the Valley for over 25 years! LEADERSHIP MATTERS Our People Make the Difference Independent Living Personalized Assisted Living Exceptional Experiences Every Day SM 13240 North Tatum Boulevard Phoenix, Arizona 85032 www.brookdaleliving.com You’ve worked all your life and saved for retirement. Now that it’s here there’s a lot more to it than the building you call “Home.” Our community is backed by the strength and stability of the industry leader. In a Brookdale Senior Living community you expect more for your investment. And we work hard to ensure that’s what we deliver. From meals prepared fresh daily by professionally trained chefs to our monthly Celebrations events and our unique Optimum Life concept, our people and our programs define a great lifestyle for you. Call (602) 953-3600 or visit our community today and let us show you why and how leadership matters. Exceptional Experiences Every Day is a Service Mark of Brookdale Senior Living, Inc., 1DVKYLOOH7186$Š5HJ863DWHQWDQG702I¿FH523 Kayla Wasson Life Enrichment Director

Page 41 June 2011 Bookstore Continued from page 40 After Peters’ husband, Robert L. Rosenwald, moved from Santa Fe to live with her, he convinced her to become a librarian once again. In 1989, The Poisoned Pen was opened as a mystery bookstore to satisfy her love for crime even after her years in law were over. “Scottsdale was always a global destination,” Peters said. “People came to the art district in the 1990s when things were far more af fl uent and the Scottsdale Art District was a bigger draw.” Peters said she always liked the idea of poison pen letters and decided to incorporate it into the title of her bookstore. Poison pen letters were hand-written defamatory notes containing malicious statements about the recipient and were used as a way of spreading gossip. In 1997, Peters and her husband founded The Poisoned Pen Press and began publishing others’ work. The Press now publishes about 40 books a year, which receive mostly starred reviews from critics such as those from the New York Times. Their published books have won all of the major awards for mystery except the Edgar Allen Poe Award, but Peters was nominated for the Poe award in 1998 as editor of the best Critical/Biographical Work. With about 12 nominations for Bookseller of the Year, Peters has evolved her mystery bookstore into a “global bookstore” with 10 percent of customers living overseas. Fifty- fi ve percent of the store’s sales became mail order when she decided to create a monthly newsletter when email was not used as often and fax was the common mode of communication. Peters described that about 80 percent of books that are published are non- fi ction and the other 20 percent encompass the small niche of mystery genres that are fi ction. The Poisoned Pen has approximately 5 percent of their stock dedicated to non- fi ction, and she said those books do not sell as much. “People don’t need much help to buy non- fi ction,” Peters said. “Everyone needs help when they want to fi nd a good book.” With 13 current employees and at least 20 events per month, Peters’ main duties are to read and approve all books featured within the store’s events and book club. The store hosts authors from all around the world for Q-and-A sessions, including such writers as Jacqueline Winspear from England and Ian Rankin from Scotland. Manager Patrick Millikin, who has worked at The Poisoned Pen for the past 16 years, does just about everything when Peters is not around. While ordering, receiving, stocking and selling, he said he never imagined himself working at a bookstore for this long after Barbara found him working at a previous bookstore. “She sort of stole me away from the other store,” Millikin said. “This is a great place. It’s kind of a refuge from the real world.” Sports Camps Hubbard SUNNYSLOPE HS Central Ave & Dunlap PHOENIX SWIM CLUB 29th St & Campbell TESSERACT HS 39th St & Shea THUNDERBIRD ACADEMY Scottsdale Rd & Thunderbird PLAY YOUR HEART OUT soccer, baseball, basketball, swimming & more! hubbardsports.com · 602.971.4044 www.integrativecareforwomen.com Facebook: Integrative Care for Women Twitter: @DrHeidiAZ “Top Doctors” - Phoenix Magazine Dr. Heidi Rula MD Integrative Care for Women 480.699.2508 2945 S. Dobson Rd. Mesa, AZ 8520 After traditional medicine prescriptions and treatments failed to address my patients’ health problems, I chose to combine my established medical practice with herbal and nutritional medicine, acupuncture and bio- identical hormone therapy. The result is a truly integrative care program for women that treats and prevents illness, not just symptoms. 62/87,216 75($70(17 35(9(17,21 Not Prescriptions Not Another Quick Appointment Not Reaction ‡ PMS, Menopause and Hormonal Issues ‡ Anxiety, Depression and Insomnia ‡ Breast, Bone and Heart Health ‡ Cancer and Chronic Disease Prevention ‡ Digestive Issues