A brief introduction:
My name is Paul Howley, owner
of the Eisner Award winning pop culture collector’s store known as “That’s
Entertainment” in Worcester, Massachusetts and a second store in Fitchburg,
Massachusetts. Some people have called me the “luckiest man in the comic book
business.” (I’m not) My stores have been around for over thirty years and it’s
been a long and interesting combination of events and people that have brought
these stores to this current place. It is not my intent to boast or brag about
my store or my life. I just want to tell you my story. In many instances, my
wife remembers things a little differently, but this is the truth as I remember
it.
The Current Cast of
Characters:
Paul Howley: age 48
Mal Howley: age 49
Adam Howley: my son, age 21
Cassy Howley: my daughter,
age 18
MY LIFE WITH COMIC BOOKS: THE
HISTORY OF A COMIC SHOP: Part #210
Now that we were living in Florida, we were
trying to enjoy the vibrant lifestyle of South Florida. We visited the ocean
beaches that were close by and went to some weekend festivals held around the
eastern part of Florida. We didn’t know very many people here and any “new”
people that we did meet were usually sales clerks at furniture stores while we
attempted to furnish our new home. We missed our close friends from New
Hampshire and Massachusetts and it was difficult to get to know “new” people
since we didn’t work at normal jobs and we were no longer involved in our kid’s
school. While neither of us is shy, it’s hard to connect with strangers without
having something in common. We hadn’t found a church to get involved with yet
although we went to several church services in the area. It was basically just
Mal and I, together all the time.
Our home was very conveniently located and I
could walk to a nearby shopping plaza that had a video rental store (remember
those?), a grocery store, a bank, a few restaurants, a horse supply store (our
neighborhood was an equestrian neighborhood) and a mobile Post Office truck. One
evening, Mal mentioned that she was in the mood for an ice cream sundae from
the nearby McDonald’s so I walked over there to buy one for her. When I got
there I noticed there was a large display of classic cars participating in a
Cruise-In Car show. Before I ordered Mal’s ice cream, I walked around looking
at these interesting cars from the 1950s and 1960s. I had a fun time talking
with the car owners and I kind of lost track of the time. I didn’t have a
cellphone back then, ( I didn’t think we needed TWO cellphones since Mal and I
were almost always together ) so Mal had no way to contact me while I was at
the car show. Once I realized I had been gone for far too long, I bought the
ice cream and walked quickly home. I found Mal crying and shaking. She assumed
something awful had happened to me. My absence brought back terrible memories
and thoughts about Adam’s accident for her. It was inconsiderate of me to spend
so much time there when she was expecting me to be back home with her ice cream
within a few minutes.
Next chapter: The new “normal”
