NO `EVER AFTER' FOR DUTTON'S.

Byline: DENNIS McCARTHY 

Odds and ends from around the San Fernando Valley:

Sad to report another Valley landmark - Dutton's Bookstore in North Hollywood - will close its doors after 45 years.

``It makes me feel good to have met so many wonderful characters in this bookstore over the years, and so sad that we're finally closing, but it's time,'' owner Davis Dutton said Thursday.

Last month, Green Ginger Bookshop in Canoga Park closed after more than 25 years. In general, the mom-and-pop used bookstore business has been in steady decline in recent years thanks to increasing online book sales.

People would rather sit at a computer and order their books than go out to a great, old bookstore, such as Dutton's, and meet interesting people while browsing the aisles. Go figure.

No official closing date has been set, but Dutton said he figures he'll be out by mid-March. He's thinning out his stock now with a 50-percent-off sale before he shifts his rare book business online from his home in Washington, where he and his wife, Judy, are moving.

Dutton was a grad student traveling through Europe in 1961 when his parents, working at Paramount Studios, sent him a telegram saying, ``Come home.'' They had just bought a little liquor store on Laurel Canyon Boulevard they were turning into a bookstore.

``For the first few weeks after we opened, people would stagger in, take a look around at the bookshelves and ask where the vodka was,'' Dutton said, laughing.

``It had always been my parents' dream to own a bookstore. When I came home from my trip, I told my dad I'd give the store a year.''

He wound up giving it most of his life. After a brief career as a magazine writer and editor, Dutton came home to run the family business for good in 1976.

``It's been a wonderful life, meeting so many characters, eccentrics and such a wide spectrum of interesting people walking into this bookstore,'' he said.

One of them stopped by Thursday to say goodbye and load up on music books.

``I've been coming here for music books for more than 40 years, and it hurts to see this wonderful store close,'' said Daniel Gould, vice president of forensic musicology at Warner Bros. Pictures Inc.

For the last 35 years, it's been Gould's job to investigate claims made against the studio that a piece of music played in one of their films might have been plagiarized.

Customer Carol Hoffman also stopped by to wish Dutton luck. She was there buying some books for a few elderly women in the neighborhood who couldn't get out to browse at Dutton's anymore. Now Carol browses and buys for them.

It's people like Daniel, Carol and so many more that make closing his doors after 45 years so tough, Dutton said.

``Please, tell everyone thank you for me,'' he said.

Another Valley landmark, Barone's Italian Restaurant, will close Jan. 22 for a few months while its new location is being renovated, says Tom Monteleone, who owns the restaurant with his dad, Frank.

The Ventura Boulevard property where the popular restaurant has sat for 60 years in Sherman Oaks is being redeveloped. Barone's will reopen in mid- to late March at its new location, 13726 Oxnard St., site of the Matterhorn Chef, which is closing Jan. 28.

``We're going to reconfigure the kitchen, improve the bar and add a piano bar and dance floor for some easy listening and late dining,'' Monteleone said.

Bita Habashi is shooting high this year to help police catch some bad guys.

Last year, I wrote how the 8-year-old Welby Way Elementary School student raised $750 on her own to pay for one full forensic sexual-assault examination and evidence collection test for a child brought to the Children's Assault Treatment Services - CATS - at Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

This year, Bita's goal is to put together a team of 100 people, at $100 each, to raise $10,000 for CATS so it can test more children who have been sexually assaulted.

The CATS Victory for Victims Walk around Lake Balboa will be held April 9 this year, and if you want to join Bita's team to help her catch some more bad guys, give her mom, Maryam, a call at [phone].

Finally, in Thursday's column on Soldier, the two-legged therapy dog, I mentioned a fundraiser that will be held next month to help pay for an elbow replacement for the dog. That's only part of it. The fundraiser will also benefit the Best Friends Animal Society, which rescues abused animals such as Soldier.

For more information, e-mail Dr. Colleen Copelan at cocopelan(at)aol.com.

Dennis McCarthy, [phone]

dennis.mccarthy(at)dailynews.com

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Photo:

Dutton's Bookstore owner Davis Dutton, right, talks with longtime customer Daniel Gould on Thursday. After more than 50 years, the North Hollywood landmark is closing its doors for good.

Gus Ruelas/Staff Photographer