Ron Simon | Readers can find old friends at used bookstores

There is a used bookstore in Port Clinton on the main drag just south of the Commodore Perry Hotel.

It is a messy sort of place and I have no idea what its name is.

But it is where I found "The Saint."

I love scruffy used bookstores. You never know what you may encounter as you drift through the messy aisles. It took some time, but I came across a hardback copy of "The First Saint Omnibus" and flipped out.

"The Saint" was the creation of English writer Leslie Charteris in the 1930s and '40s.

As a library rat in the 1950s, I worked the shelves at Marvin Memorial Library in Shelby in hopes of finding worthwhile reading.

There was plenty to find, but "The Saint" was a true discovery.

The Saint was a fictional buccaneer named Simon Templar who operated far outside the law to bring evil men and women to justice.

He was no Boy Scout. Templar was a killer when needed and a very entertaining character to boot.

Charteris was more than entertaining. He was a man of justice. The Saint took out monsters that the legal system in England simply couldn't touch.

Eventually, I gathered close to 40 paperback "Saint" novels

My favorites included the Saint's forays into the New York City and Miami Beach mobs.

Then, sometimes in the 1990s, I decided to get rid of all my paperback mystery and adventure books. I gave them to a book sale at St. Mary's of the Snows.

I never missed them until I wandered into that used bookstore in Port Clinton.

I have been reading that "First Saint Omnibus" ever since It has been a wonderful re-entry into one of the brightest moments of my youthful reading pleasures.

So far, the Omnibus as been great. I really missed the adventures of the "Saint."

Because it is a hardback copy, it will find a place on the upstairs bookshelves.

I will visit new bookstores, usually Barnes and Noble, to see what's coming out.

I particularly love the science fiction series of "1632" Grantville Gazettes, written by Eric Flint and others.

But except for a few new titles, I'm looking for hardback copies of old favorites. So places like that little store in Port Clinton, Akron, Lodi and Columbus are the places I tend to shop.

Most new books are about historic battles or events that I already have on my shelves. Few of them add to whatever knowledge I have of these events.

But stores like Karen Wickliffe Books or Acorn Books of West Fifth Avenue in Columbus had goodies just hiding away on their shelves.

Anyone who loves shopping at antique stores knows this attitude.

Meanwhile, I'm getting re-acquainted with Simon Templar and "The Saint."

Could anything be better?