[Congressional Record Volume 147, Number 117 (Tuesday, September 11, 2001)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1630-E1631]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            JOYCE MESKIS--A CHAMPION OF INTELLECTUAL FREEDOM

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                            HON. MARK UDALL

                              of colordao

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 11, 2001

  Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to 
Joyce Meskis.
  Owner of Denver's famous Tattered Cover Bookstores, Joyce is an 
ardent supporter of

[[Page E1631]]

reading and literacy and a strong defender of intellectual freedom. She 
has served as president of the Colorado Citizens Against Censorship, 
was a founder of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free 
Expression, and a leader in the National Coalition Against Censorship.
  Her leadership in this area now has been recognized by her receipt of 
the National Intellectual Freedom Award given by the National Council 
of Teachers of English.
  A strong supporter of the freedoms that are guaranteed to all of us 
by the Constitution's First Amendment, Joyce recognizes how these 
freedoms make our democracy great. She is an outstanding American who 
has dedicated herself to ensuring that intellectual freedom and 
diversity will continue to enrich our lives and the lives of our 
children. Her contributions have been well summarized in the words of 
Carol Edmonds Sullivan, a professor at the Colorado School of Mines who 
nominated Joyce for the National Intellectual Freedom Award: 
``Bookseller Joyce Meskis is nurturing democracy's vital need for 
access to books, even unpopular ones.''
  Mr. Speaker, I am attaching an article on Joyce that recently ran in 
the Denver Post and ask my colleagues to join me in this tribute.

               [From the Denver Post, September 2, 2001]

                       (By Carl Edmonds Sullivan)

       Confronted a year ago by five police officers expecting to 
     execute a search warrant for the purchasing records of one of 
     her bookstore customers, Denver's Tattered Cover owner Joyce 
     Meskis refused access to the store's files, on behalf of the 
     First Amendment rights of her customers.
       Later, she wrote her customers a ``Dear Reader'' letter, 
     admitting that, ``When you get served, or even threatened 
     with a subpoena or search warrant, it's pretty scary.'' 
     Meskis and her bookstore, which she purchased in 1974, have 
     consistently protected readers' rights by offering a 
     diversity of materials and author events ``without 
     prejudice.'' In other words, she explains, ``We cannot 
     abrogate our responsibility to the First Amendment, which we 
     believe to be the cornerstone of our democratic tradition and 
     of our bookstore. And make no mistake, it is just as much a 
     censorial act to prevent an author signing because one 
     doesn't like the view of the author as it would be if the 
     book were disallowed on the shelf.''
       In October 2000, Denver District Judge Stephen Phillips 
     ruled that Meskis was obligated to turn over her purchase 
     records to law enforcement officials. Meskis appealed the 
     ruling to the Colorado Supreme Court, where it is still 
     pending. Meskis' love of reading is rooted in her childhood, 
     when, she says, ``I read my way through the library.'' One 
     can readily picture her as Roald Dahl's Matilda, particularly 
     in the fourth grade when an adult (whom she declines to 
     identify) told her she couldn't read a particular book since 
     it was for adults, not children. ``But my mother wouldn't 
     mind,'' she protested.
       That was among the earliest of Meskis' indefatigable 
     efforts to protest actions that would muzzle intellectual 
     freedom. When she was a young woman working at the Littleton 
     Public Library, a parent chastised her because Meskis 
     recommended Margaret Mead's ``Coming of Age in Samoa'' to a 
     teenager. Meskis has organized or led various coalitions to 
     assert intellectual freedom--including her service as 
     president of the Colorado Citizens Against Censorship, a 
     founder of the American Booksellers Foundation for Free 
     Expression, and a leader in the National Coalition Against 
     Censorship.
       When the Tattered Cover offers controversial books, it 
     loses customers. ``Permanently,'' Meskis emphasizes. Critics 
     accuse her of seeking profit at the expense of morals. Meskis 
     said she has found, ``When we have a controversial author, 
     there's a far greater likelihood'' that offended customers 
     will never return. Meskis also worries about the shrinking 
     harbor for ideas outside the mainstream. In the closing of a 
     ``Dear Reader'' letter to customers, Meskis makes this 
     declaration: ``I increasingly wonder how will we ever 
     continue to be a viable bookstore presenting the variety of 
     books and authors that, in their diversity, strengthen our 
     democracy in the debate of ideas. I worry that all of these 
     forces may interfere with our freedom to read, and faster 
     than a lightening bolt, zap away the soul of our First 
     Amendment, thereby diminishing our democratic society.''

     

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