Jack Dunnigan of Pickwick Bookshop (photo by Ellyn Hament)

Pickwick Bookshop on South Broadway is hard to miss. Outside, there are books in bins with handwritten signs on them. Inside, you’ll likely find Jack Dunnigan, the bookstore’s longtime owner, sitting at the raised counter surrounded by a jumble of papers and shelves stacked with books.

But don’t let Pickwick’s’ messy look fool you. The bookstore, run by Jack, his son Tristan, and daughter Alexandra, is a goldmine of great reads, fascinating finds, and information.

Loving books since he was little and the owner of Pickwick for more than 50 years, Jack is extremely knowledgeable and generous in sharing his expertise, and so is his family. If you’re looking for a book or curious about something literary, you’ll likely get a great story, too — or a history lesson about Rockland County, where the Dunnigan family roots go back more than 150 years.

A Family Rooted in Rockland County
When the Dunnigans immigrated from Ireland, they settled in Grassy Point, eventually moving to other Rockland communities.

“We sold things or made them. We call it our “3 Bs” (a nod to the character Dwight Schrute from “The Office”): bricks, booze, and books,” Jack laughs. They owned a brickyard, Dunnigan’s Bar and Grill, and eventually Pickwick Bookshop.

Jack grew up primarily playing and reading; the latter sparking his love of books. He and his family came to Nyack to shop for clothing and other items because “the best stores were in Nyack.”

Pickwick’s Beginnings
Pickwick, which originally opened as a stationery store in 1945, was one of them. Owned by the Sperber family, its first home was in half of the space occupied most recently by Starbucks, on Main Street.

Seeing many bookstores in the city, the owner’s son, Herbert Sperber, convinced his father to experiment with selling some books. They sold out within a week. When Pickwick moved to the corner of Main and South Broadway, the stationery items were secondary to books, and the space was three times as large. Some of the original bookshelves are still in the store.

Buying the Bookstore
Fast forward to 1975 when Jack had the opportunity to own Pickwick.

“I was familiar with Nyack. I had an apartment here. And I had a friend; we were both going to run Pickwick together. I turned my back and she was gone so I took over ownership myself. It was an established business, and a bookstore is a bookstore. You just see what happens. I flailed, but that’s different than failing,” Jack says. Over time, he launched Pickwick book fairs, and there were some magical moments.

This Magic Moment
One of those moments happened about 30 years ago on a rainy Monday.

“I was doing something outside,” Jack notes, “and a fellow walking by called out to me”:
“I know you; you’re a relative.”
“I don’t think I know you,” Jack answered.
“We’re related,” the man insisted.
“In what way?”
“In books,” the man replied. And they struck up a conversation.
“It was wonderful. Such a lovely, lovely thing,” Jack smiles.

The man was Ian Ballatine “who got paperbacks moving into the United States after the war,” Jack notes. Soldiers in Europe were given pocket-sized books published by Penguin Books. Ballatine knew that there would be a big market for these smaller paperbacks after the war, but they weren’t available in America. He cut a deal to bring Penguin Books to the United States, eventually starting his own company, Bantam Books, and later Ballantine Books.

There were — and are — memorable friendships formed, too, including one with Fred Rosselot, who was a scientist at Columbia University’s Lamont-Doherty Earth Observatory in Palisades, and also an expert in appraising antiquarian books. He taught Jack and Tristan a lot about that field.

Changes Over Time
The store moved to its current location on South Broadway in 1983. There were other changes, too. Technology largely eliminated the need for their big-selling paper calendars and road maps. And the book business continues to change.

“Overall, the business side of things — the high cost of books, for example — is just sad and unfortunate,” Tristan notes.

But Pickwick continues to sell out-of-print, used, and antiquarian books, and sometimes does appraisals. They’ve always sold new books, still a very good market for them, particularly kids books.

“That’s where it all starts, with the kids. I take joy in selling children’s books because introducing a child to a book is significant; that’s where it all starts,” Jack notes.

How the Store Endures
“There are a lot of different factors that have helped us survive. My father’s hard work is probably the biggest part,” Tristan notes. And then there’s community.

“Nyack has changed a lot, but we are still an arts community, an educated community. Our new residents are magnetized by it. Nyack is also a literary community. You have people who come from academic or arts backgrounds. A bookstore is fostered by that,” Tristan smiles.