Four months ago, a hue and cry went up throughout Santa Barbara’s Mesa neighborhood: The Mesa Bookstore, at 1838 Cliff Drive, was teetering on the precipice and at risk of being replaced by a hookah bar.
Though only 205 square feet — Clark Kent would have found it challenging to become Superman in such tight quarters — the bookstore punched well above its weight for 26 years thanks to David Karys-Schiff and his wife, Lisa, who made it a thriving beehive of small-c culture and community. Garrulous, cheerful, and astute to reading the reading habits of customers, Karys-Schiff functioned as literary tour guide for all but the most exotic of tastes. Over the years, life, age, and family happened. To care for an ailing father, Karys-Schiff had to sell the shop. It was either that or the hookah bar.
Into this void stepped longtime freelance writer and certifiable Mesa Rat D.J. Palladino and his wife, Diane Arnold. Both are omnivorous readers, but loving to eat is a far cry from running a restaurant. In this vein, both boast bookish experience.