News

July 28, 2007

Local book lover to tell his story

John Puchniak, evicted from his apartment for large collection of books, was interviewed on NPR.

WILKES-BARRE – The man who would risk losing his home to save his library is becoming something of a radio celebrity.

The story of John Puchniak, who was evicted because city code enforcers thought his books were a fire hazard, is running across national news wires, and at least two radio programs have decided to interview him.

Puchniak has been evicted from his North Main Street apartment for about a month and a half since code enforcement officer Joann O’Donnell told him to “get rid of the books,” his attorney, Jim Hayward, said.

The controversy piqued the interest of producers for National Public Radio’s “Weekend Edition Sunday,” who interviewed him for a summer reading section on the show. Who better to ask about reading, said senior producer Robert Malesky, than a guy who’d save his books over his home?

That fate hasn’t yet befallen Puchniak, though. A court order allows him to return home until his various legal battles have been settled. The city must re-inspect the property, which inspectors contend can’t be done until Puchniak’s landlord, Caroline Lawson, requests it.

Lawson, who lives in Dalton, has done the opposite, suing Puchniak for back rent and other fees and demanding that he vacate the property. Lawson had previously refused comment and did not return a call. A hearing is set for Sept. 19 in County Court.

On the NPR segment, which is scheduled to run around 9:35 a.m. Sunday (the program is broadcast in this region on WVIA-FM 89.9), Puchniak talked about his summer selections, running the gamut from an evolutionary narrative to a historical look at gay society in Los Angeles to, of course, the newest Harry Potter novel.

“I never got interested in the beginning,” he said of the boy wizard series, “but the more I hear, the more I like, so I think I’ll start at the end and work my way backwards.”

Ironically, he was asked what he would read if he had nothing but time. Puchniak recently retired specifically for that purpose.

“I was only too happy to explain,” he said. His selections: “The Tale of Genji,” by Murasaki Shikibu” and “Remembrance of Things Past,” by Marcel Proust, both infamously long-winded tomes.

Puchniak’s fame on the radio waves could continue next week, when the hosts of “The Doc Show” on Froggy 101 plan to interview him “basically about his situation, how he plans to deal with it,” said executive producer Jake Navarro. The show runs from 5 a.m. to 9 a.m.

“It just intrigued us because we saw it in a national prep news service, and we saw it was local,” he said. “We’re looking forward to talking to him … more along the lines that it’s because of books that they’re kicking him out.”

A long time fan of NPR, Puchniak always hoped he would be interviewed, but not like this.

“I thought I’d be talking to Garrison Keillor himself (host of “A Prairie Home Companion” and “The Writer’s Almanac”), but that didn’t happen,” he said.

Rory Sweeney, a Times Leader staff writer, may be reached at 970-7418.

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