A Hoptown Chronicle reader sent me the New York Times Best Sellers list this week because she wanted to share that a book by bell hooks has remained on the list of paperback nonfiction best sellers for more than a year.
To be exact, “All About Love” has maintained its status on the NYT list for 56 weeks.
Even more remarkable, the book was published 23 years ago.
I don’t believe I’m overstating anything to observe that Hopkinsville surely has more copies per capita of “All About Love” than just about any community in America.
That’s fitting for the hometown of the late Gloria Jean Watkins, the feminist author known by the pen name bell hooks. Watkins died on Dec. 15, 2021, and readers soon returned in large numbers to her 1999 book that challenges our understanding of love and inspires us to think of its potential for building community.
In Hopkinsville, the writer’s sister, Gwenda Motley, distributed 500 copies of “All About Love,” at a series of community events leading up to the bell hooks Celebration of Life on April 2 at the Alhambra Theatre. She also gifted 500 copies of “Bone Black,” hooks’ memoir of growing up in Hopkinsville.
“All About Love” became a guiding principle for a group of volunteers who helped Motley plan the community’s celebration of bell hooks and her legacy. I was fortunate to be part of the group.
You can find all of Hoptown Chronicle’s stories about bell hooks here. And here’s a story by Alissa Keller that explores Gloria Watkins’ roots in Hopkinsville.
While we’re on the topic of books, don’t forget the book swap coming up Saturday evening at The Corner Coffeehouse.
Jennifer P. Brown is co-founder, publisher and editor of Hoptown Chronicle. You can reach her at editor@hoptownchronicle.org. Brown was a reporter and editor at the Kentucky New Era, where she worked for 30 years. She is a co-chair of the national advisory board to the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues, governing board past president for the Kentucky Historical Society, and co-founder of the Kentucky Open Government Coalition. She serves on the Hopkinsville History Foundation's board.
