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Susan Eileen EyerlyOct. 10, 1945 - April 7, 2006
posted 04/08/2006
Susan Eileen Eyerly was born Oct. 10, 1945 in Los Angeles, the daughter of E. Joseph and Edna Rhodes. She spent most of her childhood in Pomona, California, and graduated from Pomona High School, where she earned a scholarship to the University of California at Berkeley. She married Frank Eyerly in 1964. They have one son, Frank Eyerly, a 1983 graduate of Friday Harbor High School, who now practices architecture in Vallejo, Calif. While Frank senior was working in Reno, Nevada, Susan earned her bachelor of Fines Arts from the University of Nevada at Reno. She was an accomplished potter, painter and sculptor. Frank and Susan Eyerly moved to Friday Harbor in 1978 to open The Cannery House Kitchen and Bookstore, which was located in the Victorian house at the head of the ferry dock. Susan purchased the Griffin Bay Bookstore in 1980. The store under Susan's ownership became an institution on San Juan Island, an intellectual and social crossroads not only for islanders but also for visitors from all over the world. When asked once why she no longer practiced her art, she replied, "My art is my bookstore; I am a bookseller and I take what I do seriously." "She had an amazing anticipatory quality as a bookseller," one customer said. "She always seemed to know what her readers wanted and if you asked if she'd read the work, she usually had. She was extremely well read and could converse in depth on a variety of subjects." She also was well known for remembering her steady customers' birthdays. Invariably they would either find a book in the mail, or it would be waiting for them on their next trip to the store -- always gift-wrapped. Susan took special pride in being publisher of two well-known books: Living High, a memoir of life in the islands in the mid-20th century by June Burn; and The Pig War: Standoff at Griffin Bay, an account of the San Juan Boundary Dispute by National Park Service historian Michael Vouri. Both volumes are sold in bookstores and online services throughout the United States and Canada. In addition to reading, Susan loved gardening and would pore over the seed catalogs every winter. She also enjoyed travel (she took a special interest in Africa), the arts, and raising Golden Retrievers. Her beloved Duncan greeted visitors to the store for nearly 14 years. When the bookstore was doing well, she gave freely to charities and underwrote several scholarships. But more than anything, Susan prized her friends and her community. "To Susan a meaningful friendship was never casual," one friend said. "They were cherished as much as any heirloom. They were always unqualified and permanent." And the community prized Susan. Throughout her long illness, she received an outpouring of support from several different San Juan organizations, including some that were organized specifically on her behalf. Susan leaves a son and daughter-in-law, Frank and Erin Eyerly of Vallejo, Calif.; a sister Kathleen Rhodes of San Jose, Calif.; an aunt Lois Young, of Los Gatos, Calif.; her domestic partner Mike Vouri of Friday Harbor; Dakota, her Golden Retriever (and son of Duncan and Selke); and numerous friends throughout the world. A memorial service is pending in Friday Harbor. In lieu of flowers, contributions may be made to charities of choice. |
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