We lost Linna Thomas on May 31. For 52 years, she was the driving spirit behind Coalesce Book Store and Garden Chapel in Morro Bay, a fiercely independent, community-minded haven for bibliophiles and music lovers alike.
C-SPAN visited Coalesce in 2019, and in the video Linna takes a national viewing audience on a tour of her store and chapel, before sitting down to chat about the challenges of running an independent bookstore.
In an interview with David Congalton published in SLO Review in 2023, the Oregon native was asked how it felt to be in business for 50 years. Her response was typical Linna—putting the spotlight on others, not herself.
“Fifty years! Being in business that long makes me feel old,” she said. “More importantly, I feel blessed beyond words to have partnered with Coalesce these many years. I treasure my crew, who are the best staff ever. How lucky we are to be located in Morro Bay, my home that couldn’t be more beautiful. Local customers and friends are generally laid back, friendly and supportive, while an endless stream of travelers provide zest and interest. Let’s face it: who wouldn’t want to be me?”
The Central Coast Writers’ Conference has announced a new annual scholarship in her honor.
Meanwhile, we reached out to several of Linna’s many friends and fans from over the years and asked them to share thoughts and memories. Here is what they have to say.
“Linna, my friend—my beloved friend—for over 50 years, came as a rare blessing to our county, bringing with her the grace to found Coalesce in Morro Bay. I was one of her early customers and though I was 18 years older, we became friends, an experience that stretched into a lifetime. In the last 25 years or so, we’d try to meet for lunch and long talks about everything from family to philosophy at least once a month. During the last five years it’s been once a week, and strangely, though she was often unwell, I had the feeling she was, without saying so, taking care of me. I believe that’s who she was—someone dedicated to taking care of the world.” —Carol McPhee Norton, writer
“When Barbara and I first bought Volumes of Pleasure in Los Osos, Linna called to welcome us into the fold of independent book society. We saw each other as comrades, not competitors. We worked together from that time forward. We have always considered ourselves sister stores. When publishers of bestselling authors required minimum numbers for an order, we shared the purchase. During COVID, we shared the cost of advertising our limited store hours to let people know we were both still open for business. The community heard us and got all of us through it. We have both found wonderfully capable people who shared our passion for reading and our commitment to books and the belief in the freedom of press to work for us in our stores. We are a family. Linna left a wonderful legacy for us all.”—Carroll Leslie, owner, Volumes of Pleasure bookstore
“I discovered Linna right around the time she started Coalesce. Gravitating to a bookstore was something I would do especially in a town like Morro Bay. Over the years I’ve loved attending musical shows in the Garden Chapel, and I was privileged to use it a number of times for fundraisers for peacebuilding work, for Rotary events, and more. Linna and I had a special bond because we shared an atrial fibrillation condition. She also was so supportive during my journey with cancer. What I cannot believe is that she has come and now gone. A great loss to this community of a generous and loving human being. I will miss her smiling face every time upon entering the store. She made it more than a bookstore by far. It was the heart of the community and now that heart is broken.”—Ruth Ann Angus, freelance writer/photographer
“I met Linna four years ago. Of course, I knew of her—her amazing bookstore, her commitment to community, causes, authors, and readers. But I didn’t know her. Judy Salamacha, a friend of Linna’s and a member of my writing group, mentioned that, among many other things, Linna was a publisher. Judy wanted to make the introduction because she felt Linna would enjoy my debut book and might be interested in publishing it. Linna invited us to tea at her house. Her reputation loomed large and I was uneasy, to say the least. I needn’t have been. Her front door stood open, just like her bookstore—welcoming. She waved to us from where she sat inside, greeting us with her gentle smile and twinkling eyes. Over tea and cookies, we talked easily. She let our conversation take its time. I had her complete attention as she asked me questions about my manuscript. She was kind, open, but also businesslike. That was Linna. Later, after reading my manuscript, she called to enthusiastically tell me that Coalesce Press would be honored to publish my debut book. With that call, she caused a profound shift in the future of my writing. That was Linna. I will always be grateful for her taking a chance on me and for being a friend as well as my publisher. I was just one of many people she championed—some probably quietly or anonymously. That was Linna. The world just lost one of the good souls. And I’m deeply sorry for our loss.”—Debbie Noble Black, author
“Linna never said no, not when I asked for her support. “May I work with your staff to create a group book signing?” Yes. “If I create a flier will you post it?” Yes. “Would you carry my books in your store?” Yes. Over the last two decades she and her marvelous bookstore cast and crew were always there for me and for my fellow local authors. But Linna was there long before. I asked about the history of Coalesce and found it so interesting that I included it in one of my novels, so my characters knew her even before I did. A gentle smile, a perpetual sense of fresh possibilities, a stalwart commitment to creating that special space where readers meet words and their authors: these are all present the moment you walk through the door. Linna led the way to that intimate sense of discovery, offering treasures on every crowded shelf, and in that beautiful garden meeting house. May we all continue to coalesce around the core values she expressed.”—Mara Purl, author and performer
“Few people did more for local authors than Linna. She went the extra mile by opening up Coalesce and giving authors a spot at the Saturday farmer’s market to launch their book. She was the most compassionate person I ever knew and was always a big supporter of the Writers’ Conference at Cuesta College.”—Brian Schwartz, author and publishing consultant
“Linna was a most remarkable woman. She was everything a bookseller should be and her quaint bookshop exemplified this. She provided a safe, welcoming atmosphere to her customers: authors, poets, and musicians. Linna also built relationships with her community by hosting events and supporting good causes. Her validation and interest in people felt like a heartbeat for those who entered her shop. It was truly her labor of love.”—Christine Hill, former bookstore owner (The Novel Experience)
“I first met Linna when I stepped inside her charming bookstore, Coalesce, and she greeted me with a smile and warm welcome. This was decades ago, and every time I have wandered the aisles of Coalesce, attended a book event, or meandered through the calming garden area, I have left with a smile on my face . . . and a book or two! Last year, Linna graciously hosted a large group of writers, presenters, and volunteers ahead of the Central Coast Writers’ Conference. It was a lovely evening, and that beautiful smile of Linna’s let us all know how much she was enjoying having us in her bookstore and garden. Thank you, Linna, for your unwavering support of writers, readers, and people from all walks of life over the years. Rest peacefully now.”—Meagan Friberg, director of the Central Coast Writers’ Conference
“I was first introduced to Linna and Shar and their wonderful bookstore by the late Don Wallis—SLO’s quirky puppeteer—back in 1977. I had just arrived from Hartford, Connecticut, where I managed a B. Dalton bookstore in the downtown Hartford Civic Center. The Coalesce bookstore was everything B. Dalton wasn’t: warm, inviting, creative, and fun. It reflected Linna’s gracious personality. When I walked into Coalesce, I felt I had come home. This was the kind of bookstore I wanted to spend time in, and Linna and Shar were the kind of people I wanted to know. Through the years, Coalesce hosted a number of my book launches and those of many writer friends. Always with a warm, kind, and helpful welcome. I know Shar will keep the store going in that same tradition. But Linna will be sorely missed.”—Anne R. Allen, author
“I first had the pleasure of becoming acquainted with Linna in 2000 at Coalesce Books. Her generosity, kindness, warm, calm, and friendly demeanor were abundant from the start. Linna provided a celebrated sacred space for poetry readings, book signings, weddings, and countless music performances in the bookstore chapel. A true pillar of Morro Bay and the wider Central Coast community, Linna possessed great literary knowledge, treated all with love, respect, always had a good word, and was nothing less than a shining beacon of light to all who were fortunate to have known her. I shall miss her terribly.”—Abe Perlstein, radio host and photographer
“Linna has a beautifully generous spirit that she shares with everyone. I was always in Linna and Janet’s bookstores and met many wonderfully magical people. As a new Californian who was born, raised and schooled in Central Illinois, I was intimidated by their freedom of thought and being. But, I ultimately found myself through the Coalesce family and their books and conversations. From the time they opened their doors in 1973, I was transformed as their wisdom and joy poured out into our community. Linna was my guide and support through my 35 years at the Morro Bay Library. In 1987 she married Gordon and I in the Garden Chapel and she lives forever in our hearts and souls. She truly blessed our world with her Presence and Love.”—Jude Sanner Long, retired Morro Bay librarian
“Even before we relocated to Morro Bay, Coalesce Bookstore & Garden Chapel was on our family’s list to visit. Linna was always at the front desk graciously checking in the guests. In all the years I have worked for local newspapers, she was my go-to for leads for local authors. She asked me if I might consider writing about Carol Alma McPhee’s two books, A Small Town Women’s Movement and Releasing the Light. The first was community information all local women should know. The second was how Linna wanted to help her friend get through the trauma of caring for a loved one with cancer. When Estero Bay News accepted our Bookshelf Writers writing group as a featured column, I knew I wanted to model Linna’s quest to shine a light on local authors as she has always done at Coalesce. She would often say, ‘I’m just an old hippie.’ Maybe so, but never was there an ‘old hippie’ so savvy about the retail book and publishing business or a generous friend to her family, friends, patrons and community. She will be missed. She is missed already.”—Judy Salamacha, author and columnist
“How appropriate that Linna chose Morro Bay for her iconic bookstore because during the last 52 years she served as ‘the rock’ of the local arts community. Linna gave countless poets, writers, and musicians the opportunity to nurture and celebrate their creative voices in a warm and supportive space. In the early years of Coalesce, she did double-duty as a waitress at night to keep her bookstore dream alive. That well-known passion Linna had for ‘bookshopping,’ well, not even Amazon nor COVID could slow her down. Apparently, her heart finally failed, which, if you knew this remarkable, giving woman, is hard to believe. But I guess our dear Linna gave so much of her heart away over the years that she forgot to keep enough for herself. I will always treasure her smile. Her warmth. Her grace.”—Dave Congalton, radio host and writer
“In 1986, Karl Kempton, Michael Hannon, and I gave a poetry reading at the Canet adobe in Morro Bay. Linna had organized it for us. She enjoyed telling the story about my reading there in front of my mother for the first time, how I came to the mic and fell flat on my face, tripping over my own feet. Linna brought that story up whenever she saw me laughing all the time. She really loved telling that story after I was doing the 25th or 33rd SLO Poetry Festival. I really loved Coalesce. I sold a number of books there and we had numerous Festivals there. Linna or her staff always had such a delicious spread of cookies and cakes. I never went to Morro Bay without stopping there. I already miss her wry humor. Love to all her staff and family—they have my deepest condolences.”—Kevin Patrick Sullivan, SLO Poet Laureate Emeritus
Fifty years ago, she opened a door in Morro Bay.
Not just to a bookstore—
but to a place where the air shimmered slightly,
and time forgot itself.
The book you needed often appeared
before you asked.
Corners held warmth,
as if someone had just left.
Chairs remembered your shape.
Shelves whispered softly in the hours between visitors.
She knew our names
before we spoke them.
She heard the pauses between our words
and answered those, too.
It wasn’t just a shop.
It was a threshold between the world as it is
and the world as it could be—
quietly mended,
gently lit,
held in trust.
One morning, the bell above the door rang—
but no one came in.
A hush moved through the room,
and even the dust motes turned, as if listening.
Still, the door remains.
Her presence lingers in the hush—
and something quiet still opens
each time we remember her.”
—Janice Konstantinidis, author and former president of SLO NightWriters
Editor’s Note: Comments have been edited for length and clarity. If you would like us to consider adding your own, please send your words honoring Linna Thomas to SLO Review.