Sherry Emory

News Obituary Article

CORAL SPRINGS, FLA.: Sherry Emory, 57, co-owner of Charis Books

By HOLLY CRENSHAW

At the Little Five Points landmark Charis Books & More, Sherry Emory tended to both sides of the business --- the books and the "more."

"The store is more than just books," she said in a 1987 Atlanta Journal-Constitution article. "It's an outlook on life. We're a feminist bookstore. We have books here for men, women and children, all written from a feminist perspective. Our theme is to help people rethink their politics and perspective on the world from a feminist, egalitarian perspective.

"But we're not just a women's bookstore, or just a lesbian bookstore. We try to reach all people and help them think and grow. Charis is a community center for networking and information."

The homey, independent store was a perfect fit for Ms. Emory. The job dovetailed her background as a book-loving librarian and a compassionate counselor.

"Several times a week, people come in who need help," she said. "We pride ourselves in being here for people."

Sherry Ann Emory, 57, of Coral Springs, Fla., died of breast cancer Sunday at the residence of her sister Susan Garlock in Wilton Manors, Fla. The body was cremated. The memorial service is 11 a.m. today at Riverside Cemetery in Rochelle Park, N.J. Gutterman Warheit Memorial Chapel in Boca Raton, Fla., is in charge of arrangements.

Ms. Emory moved to Florida a year and a half ago as her health was declining. It was wrenching to leave her network of friends, her sister said.

"I asked her to come down so that I could help care for her, but it took her months to make up her mind," said Mrs. Garlock, her twin. "She loved being part of the Atlanta community. It really was her life for 30 years."

Ms. Emory grew up in Bayside, N.Y., and earned a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a master's in library science from Emory University.

She worked as a counselor at Grady Memorial Hospital's rape crisis center before joining Charis in the late '70s. She stayed there as co-owner until 2001, when she took a job at the Weber School as a librarian and yearbook adviser.

Charis co-founder Linda Bryant of Decatur said Ms. Emory helped found Bet Haverim synagogue and expanded the bookstore's religiously diverse stock.

The single mother "also brought the sensitivity of a young parent and an awareness of children's books," Ms. Bryant said.

"All of Charis' readings and discussions and open mikes and activism, Sherry was involved in all of that," she said. "There were so many evenings when she worked with a team of volunteers to set up chairs and provide the logistics and offer the hospitality for those programs."

"I went to Charis when Sherry was hosting a question-and-answer session with Gloria Steinem, and Sherry was so poised and warm and calm introducing her," said her friend Stephany Cross of Avondale Estates.

"She loved books and met so many people, especially influential women writers, hosting events at Charis."

Ms. Emory was diagnosed with thyroid cancer in 1991, a year after she adopted her daughter in Peru.

When she moved to Suwanee a few years ago, it was partly to be closer to an ice skating rink where the now-16-year-old spent hours practicing.

"Sherry put so much energy into her daughter and the bookstore, she didn't have much time for herself," Ms. Cross said. "Her child and her store and her friends --- that was her life."

Survivors include her daughter, Rivka Emory of Coral Springs; another sister, Barbara Wilner, and her mother, Edith Emory, both of Monroe Township, N.J.

© 2006 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution