Canterbury Sketchbook

Press, 22 July 1989, Page 22

Canterbury Sketchbook

I never think of Christchurch as the city of gardens. To me the city’s best feature is its bookshops. Christchurch’s bookshops are many and varied... from Scorpio and Kate Sheppard’s to Ringo’s and Kaleidoscope Comix. We have lost some excellent bookshops ... Gordon Tait’s and John Summers... both have closed their doors and are greatly missed.

But we still have Smith’s Book Shop at 133 Manchester Street, which has become a much loved Christchurch institution. Three floors of books... 100,000 second-hand volumes... university text books... art... classics... humour... children’s books... and on the second floor a wonderful collection of New Zealand books. The shop is a delight and an experience.

Collectors have been known to travel to Christchurch to spend their annual holidays in the shop. But Smith’s is more than just a collection of books... it will always be remembered because of the affection and respect held for the late Norm Oberg.

It was Norm who made Smith’s a truly great bookshop. For more than 15 years he served behind the counter, offered advice, found treasures for his regular customers. The shop became a forum for debate on a wide range of subjects... the arts... politics... the South

Pacific. Norm was a great collector. His widow, Rangi, remembers Norm sneaking up the drive of their Phillipstown home with cartons of books balanced on his push bike... of holidays where the family car became

more and more crowded with books. Books filled the garage, the garden-shed, and the house. He put out a New Zealand catalogue years before he realised his great dream — a book shop. But it wasn’t easy. Only

strong family support and long hours working as a night porter while running the shop made It possible. Rangi and daughters, Stephanie, Frances, Michelle, and son-in-law Ross, ensure

that Norm’s spirit lives on. He was once described as a man of rare books and a rare book man. Smith’s Book Shop remains a place of charm — a delightful place to visit.

- PETER McLAUCHLAN