We’d like to introduce you to Bernie Loehr, who has volunteered at the Given Tufts Bookshop since August of 2021.  Originally from Wisconsin and a Marquette University graduate, Bernie taught accounting at Ohio State and Duke, spent five years in the Navy in Puerto Rico, 11 years as Director of the Rules of Golf with the United States Golf Association (USGA), and 25 years with Kodak in various financial roles.  He also helped to revise the Rules of Golf, a book compiled cooperatively by the USGA and the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews.  

When he finally retired, Bernie chose Pinehurst with fond memories of his trips here for meetings with the USGA and the 2014 U.S. Open.  While with the USGA, he was in charge of scoring at the 18th hole for the U.S. Open from 2008 to 2015, which he enjoyed very much.  Part of his duties were to make sure the score cards were signed by the players and that their numbers were legible.  He had the opportunity to witness firsthand how the greatest players in the world deal with various types of emotions, such as his experience as a rules official at the 2008 U.S. Open playoff between Tiger Woods and Rocco Mediate at Torrey Pines in California. 

He has fallen into book repair for special books that need a little love.  Guided by YouTube how-to videos, he has successfully saved numerous literary works with careful attention to separating corners or detached bindings.  It was a natural segue from assisting with pricing the books when he stepped in to assist the bookshop manager, whom he said was swamped at the time.  In doing so, he noticed the deteriorating and unsellable condition of some books, so he attempted to repair them.  His ingenuity led to a homemade book press using paint stirrers, and he continues to figure out tips & tricks on a case-by-case basis.

Bernie has been amazed by the wide variety of books that come into the shop, including foreign languages and very old copyright dates - some so old that there is not a comparable copy.  He is currently exploring the condition and value of a Mother Goose book that has been inscribed with a message dated 1886.  Another special piece he has encountered is a 1979 brochure created for the centennial of the Cincinnati Art Museum that contains over 60 pages of artwork and other artifacts they had on display, for which he could only locate one other copy.  As we finish this piece, he discovers a signed, first edition, three-volume set of Walt Disney’s Donald Duck comics - #201 out of a limited 750.

When Bernie first began playing golf when he was 16, he set a goal of playing 1,000 courses in his lifetime.  Already, he has reached 925 courses - 800 in the U.S. and 125 abroad - and he has accumulated quite a collection of score cards from his travels along the way.  He is a member of the Donald Ross Society and several other golf societies, and had the exciting opportunity in 2016 to attend the 400th anniversary of the Royal Dornoch Tournament in the Scottish Highlands. 

When asked what brought him to the Given Tufts Bookshop in lieu of other local organizations, he said he always wanted to work in a bookstore because of his love of books and the fascinating stories they tell.  He also believes in the bookshop’s mission to support Given Memorial Library and Tufts Archives.  He thinks this is a great place for book-lovers or people who just want to volunteer their time and expertise for a charitable organization.  Coincidentally, he has encountered two other volunteers with whom he could have made an acquaintance in past lives.  One worked at Kodak during the time he was there, and another went to Marquette and was also in the Navy.  Maybe all roads lead to Pinehurst, but it’s certainly a small world after all.