Peter Ogura has spent most of the last 34 years in the same spot: behind the front desk of south Eugene’s Black Sun Books, nestled into a corner of a cozy storefront teeming with theory, history and fiction titles from floor-to-ceiling shelves.
But sunset is approaching. Ogura, 71, will retire from the independent bookstore later this month. Next month, it will become Outliers Books, dedicated to stocking marginalized writers with a renewed focus as a third space under new owner Kel Weinhold.
Ogura, who has been considering stepping back over the last five or six years, said that he’s grateful for years of chatting about books with his well-read customers.
“I’m pleased that over 33 years that I’ve not been asked to carry books that I don’t want to carry,” he said. “No one has asked me for romances.”…