Tribute: a life devoted to books: Alfred Ligon 1906-2002.

Alfred Ligon, founder of the Aquarian Book Shop in Los Angeles, the nations oldest continuously operated African-American-owned bookstore, died August 10. He was 96. Of Ligon, author Walter Mosley called him "a great man who was the single light keeping the flame for a brighter future."

Born in 1906 in Atlanta, Georgia, Alfred Ligon moved to Chicago at an early age. He worked at several jobs--as a ballroom dancing instructor, as a printer's apprentice and as a waiter. After moving to Los Angeles in 1936, he began to embrace his calling as an entrepreneur, teacher and race man.

In the early 1940s, when Ligon established what was then the Aquarian Library and Bookshop, African Americans made up less than five percent of Los Angeles' 1.5 million residents. With $100 of his personal savings from his job as a waiter with the Southern Pacific Railroad and books acquired from a local secondhand store, Alfred Ligon sold books from his basement. While the exact date of Aquarian's opening is uncertain, he often pointed to a 1941 newspaper advertisement for the bookstore as evidence of its longevity. The store was named for the Aquarian Gospel of Jesus Christ, a New Age tome written in 1907 by Levi H. Dowling that chronicles Jesus' travels and studies. The Aquarian's offerings mirrored the owner's interests in metaphysics and African-American culture and history.

In 1942, Ligon met Bernice Goodwin and convinced her to work in his store. Six years later, he convinced her to become his wife. Bernice Ligon was well suited to nurture both their growing family and the business. She established an African-American book-of-the-month club with an impressive list of 500 subscribers.

The Ligons eventually moved their business to a storefront. And in the postwar years, the Aquarian became a major cultural center in Los Angeles' burgeoning black community. The bookstore hosted plays and lectures and offered black history classes. It became a gathering place for black intellectuals and activists. John Henrik Clarke, Maya Angelou and Rosa Parks visited. Works by renowned writers of the Harlem Renaissance were shelved alongside little known, self-published authors. Mr. Ligon amassed an impressive collection of historical papers, including drafts of Marcus Garvey's speeches and W.E.B. Du Bois' letters.

The 1960s brought about more change. The Ligons shortened the name of their store. And as California and the nation began to embrace New Age philosophies, the period became both figuratively and literally "the age of Aquarius."

Rioting in major urban cities---including Los Angeles--helped usher in a black consciousness movement. Colleges and universities created black studies programs. In keeping with the times, the Aquarian increased its number of titles, and Mrs. Ligon created specialized reading lists for students who frequented the store.

Author and community activist Earl Ofari Hutchinson was among them. Hutchinson met the Ligons in 1963, when he was a student at Los Angeles City College. Hutchinson, who is currently president of the Los Angeles-based National Alliance for Positive Action and the author of The Disappearance of Black Leadership and The Crisis in Black and Black, fondly remembers his "griot, mentor, counselor, master-teacher and spiritual guide."

However, interest in African-American literature began to subside somewhat in the 1970s. Many of the bookstores that sprang up during the previous decade went out of business. In a 1982 article in The Los Angeles Times, Ligon told the reporter that he kept the store open as a community service. "We're an institution" he said. "Even just a trickle of people who want these books justifies our existence." In 1990, the Ligons recognized the onset of a new wave of popularity in African-American literature. The bookstore moved to a shopping plaza at Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and Western Avenue. By that time, the store carried more than 7,000 volumes. But that renaissance was short-lived.

In April of 1992, Los Angeles erupted following the acquittal of four Los Angeles police officers accused of beating motorist Rodney King. The Aquarian, which had survived the Watts riots, economic downturns and the incursion of bookstore chains, was burned to the ground. Estimates place the Ligons' losses from $180,000 to $500,000. The bookstore, like many businesses in the area, was uninsured. But authors, friends, supporters and the publishing community rallied to their side. Earl Ofari Hutchinson was among those who organized a benefit for the Aquarian. Maya Angelou and Alice Walker donated to the rebuilding fund. Several major publishers donated books, and forgave debts or extended credit.

The store reopened briefly, but closed in 1994 after Bernice Ligon was diagnosed with liver cancer. She died in 2000.

"Men like Dr. Ligon come along once in a lifetime," says Earl Ofari Hutchinson. "His spirit and message will continue to influence generations to come."