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The Air Force historian with a PhD who now runs a bookstore

Carl Beamer sits in front of a computer that seems out of place among the stacks and stacks of used books consuming every inch of the old bookstore he owns on Granville Street.
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The bearded 55-year-old former Newark Air Force Base historian seems perfectly content amidst the narrow aisles and crammed bookshelves some might call clutter and others a treasure trove.

He's owned Cindamar Books since 2001, but this wasn't exactly the career path he expected when he started working at the Air Force base in 1983.

Still, it's not too surprising, given his background, interests and the decisions he faced when the base closed and he lost his job in 1996.

"It wasn't really what I planned to do with my life, but it's something I know and enjoy," Beamer said. "I enjoy coming to work every day. I like being my own boss."

Beamer, who earned his bachelor's degree from Ohio University and his doctorate in history from The Ohio State University, faced some difficult decisions when the base closed.

He and wife, Teresa, who works at Denison University, had two small children at the time.

"I could have moved to stay with the Air Force and she would have had to give up her job," Beamer said. "Either way, one of us would have to give up our work."
Read entire article at http://www.newarkadvocate.com (Newark, Ohio)