Lambda Rising's Maccubbin Reflects on a Successful 35-Year Run

This week, Lambda Rising owners Deacon Maccubbin and Jim Bennett announced plans to close their remaining two stores, located in Washington, D.C., and Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, by the end of the year. Maccubbin founded Lambda's first, 300-square-foot store catering to the gay and lesbian community in D.C. in 1974, when GLBT literature was largely unavailable in bookstores and libraries. "We thought if we could show that there was a demand for our literature, that bookstores could be profitable selling it, we could encourage the writing and publishing of GLBT books, and sooner or later other bookstores would put those books on their own shelves," and there would no longer be a need for a specifically gay and lesbian bookstore, he said. Now that GLBT literature is readily available, Maccubbin considers the store's 35-year run a success.

Maccubbin and Bennett have chosen to close Lambda Rising now for several reasons. "First of all, I'm 66, and 35 years is enough time to do any one thing," Maccubbin told BTW. He also cited the difficulties of operating in an industry in flux. "The way the industry has been trending the past few years, at some point, we would have had to make that decision. I'd rather go out on a high note and on our terms rather than wait two, three, or 10 years, and be forced to go out after letting the stock deplete." He added that he'd "always tried to run a community-conscious organization" and wanted to have "nothing but the fondest memories." The stores will operate through Christmas.

In 1977, Lambda Rising moved to a new D.C. location, where it expanded and launched a national mail-order service, producing a catalog that eventually had a quarterly circulation of a quarter-million copies. In 1984, Maccubbin and Bennett, who had begun managing the store, moved it to its present home, a nearly 5,000-square-foot two-story building in D.C. That same year, they opened their first satellite bookstore in Baltimore.

Other stores were to follow in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and Norfolk, Virginia. In 2003, Maccubbin bought New York's Oscar Wilde Bookshop, the first gay bookstore in the world when it opened in 1967, to save it from closure. Maccubbin later sold Oscar Wilde to its manager, Kim Brinster; however, the financial crisis proved too much for the small store, which closed earlier this year. Lambda Rising's Norfolk store closed in 2007, and the Baltimore store closed last year.

Maccubbin credited the American Booksellers Association for playing a role in the success of the bookstores over the years. "We couldn't have done it without ABA," said Maccubbin. "It played a huge role, especially in the early years, in expanding GLBT lit. Very simply, the association was an important part of our business and our life."

Lambda Rising will be holding big sales though the rest of the year with a major liquidation, including the sale of fixtures and bookshelves, in January. After that, Maccubbin said that he and Bennett plan to travel. "There are a lot of countries in this world that Jim and I have not yet seen. And I hope to get around to writing those books I wanted to write. Doesn't every bookseller really want to write a book?"

Another thing Maccubbin and Bennett, who've been together for 32 years, plan on doing is getting legally married if D.C. legalizes same-sex marriage, which it is expected to do this spring.

While preparing for the stores' closure, Maccubbin focused on the legacy of Lambda Rising. "It's bittersweet, but I know the impact the store had on the GLBT and non-GLBT community, and I'm extremely proud of the positive influence we've had on thousands and thousands of people." --Karen Schechner