<\/p>\n
Lakewood International<\/span><\/strong> News carried the Paris Review<\/em>, Partisan Review, Kenyon Review <\/em>and Bustin’ Out<\/em>.\u00a0<\/em>About half the store was porn. The proprietor, Gil, was a part-time railroader.\u00a0He manned the elevated counter, which was a lookout tower for nailing shoplifters and pervs. I went there.<\/p>\n When Gil lost his lease, I told him about a store I had for rent. A Plain Dealer<\/em> reporter called me about all this. How’d he hear about it? Who knows. Possible PD<\/em> headline: \u201cStratton, New Porn Czar.\u201d The old Cleveland porn czar was Reuben Sturman. I got scared. I hand-delivered a media package to the Plain Dealer<\/em> reporter. I did a Q&A with myself.\u00a0I wrote: \u201cI believe in the First Amendment and the bookstore would be an asset.\u00a0It isn\u2019t just<\/em> porn.\u00a0Ever heard of the Paris Review<\/em>? I\u2019ll rent to the magazine store.\u201d<\/p>\n The deal didn’t happen. Lakewood News moved to a different location, about a mile south, then folded.\u00a0I rented my vacant store to a bank, and I figured the bank would stay for 20 years. That’s what their lease said. But the bank bailed in a couple years. Banks were merging and consolidating like crazy in the 1980s.<\/p>\n