In January, L. Page "Deacon" Maccubbin came to an agreement to buy New York's Oscar Wilde Bookstore, the first gay and lesbian bookstore in the country, one day before the landmark store was to close its doors. Already the owner of four other gay and lesbian bookstores, Maccubbin didn't see the acquisition of Oscar Wilde as an addition to his growing chain but a continuation of his "missionary work."

"I'm very proud of the fact that we were able to save Oscar Wilde and that it still operates," Maccubbin told PW. "It's now in its 36th year and the fact that it was the first gay and lesbian store opened is a powerful statement—that somebody had the vision, long before Stonewall, to invest their time, effort and money into pulling all the literature together in one place is remarkable. Craig Rodwell—the original owner—made that vision happen, and I'm happy we can keep it alive."

In the Beginning

It seems appropriate that Maccubbin owns Oscar Wilde. It was a visit to the Greenwich Village bookstore in 1972 that, two years later, prompted his opening of the first Lambda Rising bookstore in Washington, D.C. In 1972, Maccubbin owned an upscale head shop called Earth Works, specializing in wooden pipes and paraphernalia. ("It was doing pretty well," he said, "and I was a hippie, so I didn't need it to do that well.") In 1974, a bigger space in the same building became available and Maccubbin changed course.

"I decided to go ahead and try that thing I saw in New York a couple years earlier. Let's see about opening a gay and lesbian bookstore in Washington and see if it can survive," Maccubbin said. "If you told me you could make money selling gay and lesbian books, I would have laughed because I didn't think it was possible. There just wasn't that much out there. I remember our first advertisement bragged that we had over 250 titles, which was pretty much everything. It was really hard to find 250 titles."

But making money was never Maccubbin's goal. Although he's always been an avid reader, he says from the beginning he always considered the endeavor more a political and social excursion than a business.

"I guess if you translated the statement into today's terms it would be 'We're here, we're queer,' " said Maccubbin with a laugh. "First we wanted to give people a place to come, gather, get information—a place to plug into the community. Having the books was a draw for that. The books also had a lot of that information. They weren't just fiction. There were nonfiction works on various topics as well, and we were trying to bring all of that together.

"We served as the de facto community center," Maccubbin continued. "We had big bulletin boards that people checked every day. We answered the phone and gave out information. And we were happy to do it. We weren't just selling books—we were there to provide a service to the community. It was missionary work and we referred to it as that many, many times."

The "work" was well received and appreciated. Three years later, Lambda Rising moved to its current location, a storefront three times the size of the previous store, located on one of Washington's main shopping blocks on Connecticut Ave. As he often does, Maccubbin spreads the credit for Lambda's rising.

"We've always had great landlords and our landlord here was no exception," he told PW. "He made it clear that when he died the estate was to make sure we stayed and we were eventually able to buy the store for considerably under market value."

Spreading Out

The day after moving into the new D.C. store, Maccubbin opened his first satellite store in Baltimore. "It was a testing ground," he said.

The Baltimore store flourished as well. Five years later, he opened a Lambda Rising in Rehoboth Beach, Del., then one in Norfolk, Va., where Maccubbin was born.

"Norfolk was like a sort of homecoming," said Maccubbin, who now resides in D.C. "There was a store there, which we had helped the owner build up, but he wanted to move to a career in real estate and he asked us to take over. We did it because he asked us to but also because it was my hometown."

The crowning jewel, the acquisition of Oscar Wilde, almost didn't happen. By late 2002, Maccubbin was aware that the Manhattan bookstore was having financial problems so he called the owner to ask if there was anything Lambda Rising could do to help. He never heard back. When he discovered the store was in danger of closing, he called again and asked about the possibility of taking the store over but the negotiations were slow, according to Maccubbin. At the eleventh hour, the deal was made and Maccubbin purchased the name and stock, though not the business.

"And," added Maccubbin, "as far as we know so far, there's no debt."

Maccubbin's stores, like the owner himself, have continued to prosper despite prejudice and long odds. He has been a long-time supporter of gay rights and active in several marches and organizations. (Maccubbin got his nickname after becoming an ordained minister through a mail-order diploma while spending time in prison for burning his draft orders in 1968.) His Washington stores were targets of anti-gay backlash.

"We had more than our share of harassing phone calls, bomb threats and broken windows," remembered Maccubbin. "If anything, it convinced us we were doing the right thing. The first time was shortly after we moved and they threw rocks through the windows of our old place. The community here rallied around us and everybody pitched in to help pay for them. We've always had great support around here."

Lambda's Mission

The secret, according to Maccubbin, is more than persistence. "You need to be very, very clear what you're trying to do," he says. "Our mission was to make gay and lesbian literature available in a businesslike way, so we could continue to do it. We've hired very good people and given them the tools to do the best job they can. They're not doing it for the paycheck."

The Lambda Rising stores also feature extensive sidelines, including music, videos, magazines, greeting cards, T-shirts and original art work. Half of the stores' sales come from sidelines. "A lot of that stuff has a much better profit margin," said Maccubbin, "and that allows us profits to pour back into books."

There is also a Web site, accessible through booksense.com. Although books can be purchased on the site, the main focus is not sales. "The big chains and others got online and ceased to make it profitable and we've never been in business to throw money away," said Maccubbin. "Our Web site is more for presence than profit. I'm not concerned with how many books I can sell there. My focus is on information, education and spreading the word about Lambda Rising and Oscar Wilde."

Although Maccubbin says he has no immediate plans to buy more stores ("And if I did," he joked, "I wouldn't tell you."), he is always alert for new locales. But, in keeping with his mission, he's specific about the circumstances in which he would do it.

"I'd only go to an area without a gay and lesbian bookstore or ones that have an owner looking to unload it," said Maccubbin. "I'm not interested in going to a community that has a vibrant store. There's no point in it, and I won't do it."