farewell to a man of books

A man who operated three bookstores for nearly 40 years, including a “speakeasy” in his Upper East Side apartment, passed away last week.

On July 8, Michael Seidenberg, the owner and founder of Brazenhead Books, died after a heart attack and bypass operation. He was 64.

According to the Guardian, Seidenberg opened his first bookstore in 1979 on Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn and closed in 1980. He then had a storefront on 84th Street until 1987 and then for about a decade, Brazenhead was a popup bookshop. But in 2008, he opened his “secret” bookstore in his apartment at 235 East 84th, which he kept afloat until 2015.

Seidenberg and Brazenhead had a profound impact on the community. His widow, Nickita Roeita spoke to Our Town about her late husband.

The couple met in 1980 and quickly fell in love. They moved in together within three weeks of meeting and married in 1987. It was difficult for her to speak about him in the past tense.

“He opened the door to all comers, and they were all a little changed by their experience of him, his generosity and of his books,” she said.

Harlem resident Ashley Arthur, 32, expressed sadness about Seidenberg’s passing. While she only met him five years ago, she will always remember him.

“Over the time I spent with him I learned what it meant (and how it felt) to be fully present in a conversation, as well as to give people space to wander in the stacks, safe and unbothered (which, in New York, can be rare!),” Arthur said in an email interview.

She visited the bookshop three to four times a year for four years. Arthur explained that she felt connected to Seidenberg and Brazenhead felt like a second home.

“Brazenhead was always exactly what you needed, whether you wanted a book, a conversation or a quiet space just to be,” she said. “Brazenhead provided a truly unique space that provided comfort, a feeling of belonging and love that you didn’t have to prove yourself in order to receive. All of that was possible because of the person Michael was.”

Arthur described him as “boyish, brilliant and lovingly direct.”

“It almost hurts to think of him and what it felt like to be around him because it makes me realize how rare that type of person is in these times,” she said. “Michael always told the truth, but was never hurtful.”

Arthur explained that Seidenberg changed her life. He helped restore her faith in people, found her current career because of one conversation at Brazenhead and met someone there whom she eventually fell in love with.

“Hearing the news was like losing a limb,” Arthur said. “In many ways, Michael felt immortal to a lot of us and the idea of losing him felt impossible. Practically all I think about is did we give him a fraction of what he gave us? We found love and solace and stories (and whiskey), books, friends, courage and peace. None of that was done by happenstance.”

Former Harlem resident Daniel Karpantschof reminisced about his time at Brazenhead. Karpantschof, 34, lives in Copenhagen, Denmark, but resided in Harlem at 122nd and Adam Clayton Powell from 2009 to June 2019.

He met Seidenberg five or six years ago at a party at Brazenhead and immediately was hooked.

“While I enjoyed the gatherings and group settings at Brazenhead, I would frequent the place more often, when it was just Michael and I, and possibly one more, sharing a bottle of whiskey and smoking cigarettes or pipe,” he recalled.

“See, at Brazenhead time didn’t really exist,” he continued. “A conversation would last till the bottle was empty or someone fell asleep on the couch.”

Karpantschof described Seidenberg as “generous, compassionate and a renaissance man. So many people only care about money, while he was more concerned with happiness and life.”

“Brazenhead was a place for misfits, and I think many of us will miss not just Michael, but the sanctuary of free thought that he created,” he said. “Michael and Brazenhead were exceptions from the norm of New York and the world ... I feel a great sadness for having lost Michael, but feel truly blessed to have been a part of his life, and having him be a part of mine, for the brief time that it was.”