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True StoriesPeter Greeman: Advertising Executive to Bookstore Owner and Non-Profit Director
It didn't happen overnight, but Peter Greeman has since found new passions: serious involvement in a nonprofit that helps inner city young men to become teachers and mentors; an abiding interest in the arts; and ownership of a small, independent bookstore in his hometown of Larchmont, New York. Two seemingly unrelated events made this possible. First, Peter discovered that over the years his financial equity had grown sufficiently to enable him to purchase Anderson's Book Shop, one of an endangered species, according to American Booksellers Association statistics. "Don't make a big thing of this when you do my story," he insisted, but try telling that to his friends and neighbors to whom he has become something of a hero. The store was surviving, but he plans to renovate and restore it to its former glory, increasing inventory from 15,000 titles to 40,000, a good part of which will be in children's books. "I have a place in my heart for this particular bookstore," Peter told The New York Times recently, "I grew up in Larchmont, and so did my father, and the bookstore was part of growing up. In fact, Mr. Anderson wrote my college recommendation. I wanted to do Larchmont a favor...also, the store's manager lives across the street from me, and she's a dear friend." If Anderson's Book Shop is a David among bookselling Goliaths, both on and off the Internet, Peter Greeman isn't worried: "I said to myself there can be an exception, particularly in a town like Larchmont where people like to shop locally." Just don't expect to find a latte, tall, skinny or otherwise, at Anderson's. The second transforming event was the arrival of a non-solicited letter from The Learning Tree some four years ago. The "Tree" is a non-profit that helps minority high school students --including some motivated drop-outs -- to graduate and go on to teachers' colleges, then return as teachers and mentors to public schools in their own communities. This program struck a chord with Peter who became involved instantly and now serves as chairman of the board of directors. Now based in Washington D.C. and in its eleventh year, The Learning Tree was established in Massachusetts where it administered programs in Springfield and Boston. Its chief focus is the Community Teachers program. "Peter's involvement has made a central difference in the ability of The Learning Tree to move deliberately and with resolve toward leadership in a national home-growing urban teacher movement. Peter serves on the movement's national Working Group, participates in the development of strategies and structure. Last year, Peter was elected chair of our board of directors, providing new leadership and new energy. It is hard to imagine having reached this point without his leadership and support,"said Arthur Serota, Learning Tree President. A graduate of Yale, Peter has also taught advertising one night a week at SUNY Purchase, N.Y.; he restores antique doll houses (under the strict supervision of his wife); spends spare hours playing computer war games and, with his wife, studies art history at The Metropolitan Museum of Art. His advice, "Recognize that your fears of retirement are really fears of change--which may not be bad--and get to them before they get to you. Giving up your career identity can be very scary. It's a lot like giving up smoking--but you'll feel so much better in the end." Getting Started The Learning Tree American Booksellers Association Home | True
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Former
advertising executive Peter Greeman used to regard retirement with the dread usually
reserved for a debilitating illness. That's not surprising, given that he was
"retired" somewhat involuntarily at age 50 from one of the largest agencies in
the world, in a management restructuring. While the "golden handshake" was
generous enough to eliminate any financial worries, his premature exit left him with a
bruised ego and may have even caused a bout of depression some 10 years later. "I
guess my identity was wrapped up [in the job]," he said. "I knew I had not
accomplished all I was capable of. Giving it up seemed like an admission of defeat."
Although he found another job in the advertising industry within a week, he remembers the
pain vividly more than two decades later. He saw 20 or more years stretching ahead and
wondered how he might fill it. What people in his situation need, he said, was a way to
reclaim a sense of self and new directions for their lives.