mabfan | Farewell to Gwen David (Reply)

Ever since I moved to the Boston area in 1995, I've purchased my comic books at the New England Comics in Coolidge Corner, Brookline.

Throughout the years, Nomi and I have become friendly with many of the store managers and staff at NEC. Folks like Bob Shortell, Scott Arthur, Rich Carbonneau, and many others who are also no longer there, were always warm and helpful. In our family, I'm the one who mostly reads comics, but Nomi frequently would drop by on her own to pick up my books for the week, and everyone behind the desk would always be just as friendly even when she was by herself. The current manager, Benn Robbins (LJ:

bukket1138), has continued in this fine tradition of being a good friend.

Benn Robbins
Photo copyright ©2007 by Michael A. Burstein

One of the other friendly staff members is a delightful young woman named Gwen David.

In November 2002, Gwen started to work for NEC. She was a student at Massachusetts College of Art. She grew up in Queens and Long Island, and so she and I knew a lot of places in common. For the past five years, Nomi and I have gotten to know her very well. Every Wednesday, Gwen's presence made a trip to the comic book store that much more enjoyable. We would talk about movies and TV shows and books and comics (of course), but we would also talk about art and Judaism and philosophy and family. Once, Nomi and I invited Gwen over for shabbat dinner; in a small way, we wanted to pay her back for the joy she brought into our lives.

Gwen earned her BFA in Art History this year, and she's off to Georgetown University in Washington, DC, for a Master's program in Museum Studies. Yesterday was her last day working at NEC, and we gave her a card. Gwen, who needed to unload some of her books for the move, gave me a book about Queens that I had borrowed from her once and that she knew I wanted.

We wish her the best of luck. We will miss her terribly.