Gardendale book store to close after 24 years

Published 10:49 am Tuesday, November 25, 2008

By Melanie Patterson

The North Jefferson News



A literary era is coming to an end.

On Dec. 20, the Book Basket in Gardendale will close after serving the public for almost 25 years.

Owner Billy Ray Fortner said he is closing the store for health reasons.

The Book Basket is in its third location since opening. It has been at its present location, 700 Main St., for 21 years.

Fortner opened the business on March 24, 1984.

“It was really a public service,” he said, after saying he never turned a profit in 24 years. Rather, it was a labor of love.

“Before Books-A-Million opened (in Fultondale), people had to travel all the way across town to get a book for school,” said Fortner.

He said that before the Fultondale store opened, the nearest book store besides his was in Hoover.

“It saved them from traveling all the way across town,” he said.

Fortner said the thing he has enjoyed the most about running the store is “meeting people.”

“It has served its purpose,” he said.

With his newfound spare time, Fortner said he will continue working on his latest book, “Oil, the Kennedys and Bombingham.”

Fortner has previously written a book titled “The Mafia Shadow Governments.”

Also, the late Martha Wilson of Gardendale wrote a biography of Fortner titled “Bombingham Boy.”

Both books are available at the Book Basket until the business closes next month.