Sarah Morrow was not born and bred in Lismore but has been part of the community since she went to school at Trinity with a close connection to the township of Clunes. Denise Alison sat down with Sarah to get the story of how she came to own the Bookwarehouse in Keen Street.

I was born in Armidale and lived there until I was 8 years old. Dad was a teacher of Philosophy at Armidale Uni and Mum owned a Curry House restaurant which was always very busy. Mum came to Australia from England when she was 20.

Mum and Dad decided we would move to England for 12 months to be close to Mum’s family. We only lasted one month because we arrived in the middle of Winter. It was snowing and we had a white Christmas but we wanted to come home, it was just too cold.

We came back and moved to Noosa where we overlooked Sunshine Beach. We only stayed for about 8 months before moving down here to Clunes which is where Dad’s family are from.

(Sarah and her father Richard in 2016)

My Grandfather Jack Morrow was the Butcher at Clunes as was his father before him. My Grandmother and Grandfather both ran the Butcher shop. We basically moved to Clunes to be closer to Grandma after Grandad passed away. I was 5 at the time.

I went to high school in Lismore at Trinity Catholic College which was sort of funny because I grew up with Mum who was a Buddhist and Dad who was an Atheist.

I have a sister Louise who is 2 years older than me. We are a very close family. I grew up on horseback from when we moved to Clunes. I rode every day for many years, rough riding, paddock bashing on horses. I adore horses. My fave books as a kid were the Elyne Mitchell Silver Brumby series. I have 2 dogs in my life now whom I love. Limpy who is a Neapolitan Mastiff and Clare is a Bulldog cross Kelpie. I’d be lost without them.  

(Sarah Morrow and horses at Clunes with the old cattle yards which were attached to the slaughter yards (the butcher shop is on the main road and is now run by Pat Miller who bought the shop from my Grandmother, Elaine Morrow)

My Mum Sylvia used to work at Caddies as a Chef for years back in the 90’s. Mum died of a brain haemorrhage in 1994 when I was 18. She was quite a prominent person around Lismore from her work at Caddies but she was also she was quite involved with the Gay community in town.

Losing Mum was huge and she died suddenly so there was no warning. She was fine one minute and Dad and I were doing CPR on her in the next minute. That was pivotal time in all our lives. Mum was such a positive and vibrant person so she left a big hole. 

(Sylvia Morrow 1986 (approx) at The Pass, Byron Bay)

I had my first job at 16 with John who was the owner of The Book and Toy Warehouse. When Mum died I left that job, moved away and grieved for a long time.

Eventually, I returned and worked in the Book shop again. I became the Manager of the Lismore shop from 2002 to 2017. Back then there were  9 shops…2 in Ballina, 2 in Coffs, 2 in Lismore, 1 in Yamba, Grafton and Port Macquarie. I managed for a long time and became the Buyer and then I expressed an interest in the business.

In 2017 we had the flood and there was an opportunity for me to take over the business. John had started mentoring me 5 years beforehand when I expressed interest.

In May of 2017, we took over Lismore. In August that year, we took over Coffs Harbour. We took over Grafton and the Warehouse in Feb 2018. We opened Ballina ourselves. I went into partnership with my Dad Richard and his partner Wendy. It was really important to me to open Lismore as a proper bookshop, not just for me but for all the staff and for the community. The business has been running for 40 years and I wanted to make sure it kept going. My relationship with John remained close personally and business wise. He took me under his wing and taught me what to do. 

(Bookwarehouse staff in 2016, From left front: Caz Greene, Lea Wilson, Sarah Morrow. From left back: Luisa, Sarah Ryan (current manager), Mandy, Sarah, Kate Muldowney. Photo: Denise Alison)

Books have always been a huge part of my life. I remember as a kid Dad and I used to do Samuel Beckett plays as bedtime stories. Dad being an intellect and Mum a business owner, they were my role models. Basically, I managed to buy my passion.

I love that feeling when someone comes into the shop and they don’t think we’ll have a particular book and then we get it off the shelf for them. It’s like Yes!! We are keeping the community well-read. The Lockdowns have been stressful. We pushed the online sales and the click and collect. Our customers have really supported us. 

We lost a lot in the 2017 flood. It was devastating and heartbreaking seeing that mountain of books out the front piled up ready to be taken away. We lost about 40% of our stock. We had taken so much upstairs and then we raised the rest a metre high but the flood level came over the metre. We just didn’t have enough time. It was sad, a big clean up but also an opportunity for change as well.

(Wendy Coates, Sara Morrow and Richard Morrow cleaning and restoring the Bookwarehouse after the 2017 floods)

I lived at Clunes in the family home till I was 30. Mum died when I was 18 and Dad moved out. I stayed on and then bought a house in Evans Head in 2011 which is where I am now. I chose not to have children but my sister has 2 beautiful kids, Pearl and Fletcher who are absolutely gorgeous and they’re enough (laughs).

I guess my life has revolved around family but also learning. My parents were very upfront and down to earth and I feel very lucky to have grown up so surrounded by love. I’ve lived more years now without Mum than I lived with her but that grief has kind of shaped my life.

Mum was very spiritual and very much into Buddhism. I used to question but I decided that some things are unanswerable. Since losing Mum I’ve had many friends die young. I don’t know whether going through such early grief makes you able to help others through grief. It has been a part of my life since, helping others through their grief. 

Mum taught us about letting go, always instilling in us the importance of being able to let go, not hang on to things and to treat people kindly. She was an amazing woman and was always one of those innately caring people.  

I have a letter here that my Mum wrote before she died. I caught her writing this when I was about 15. The envelope says ‘To be opened on my death’ and it was a letter to my sister and I. Perhaps she knew she wasn’t going to live a long life.

Her death was so huge…to the community as well. She was insightful and very spiritual. It’s kind of a letter for all mothers and daughters. It certainly helped me massively. She had written this particular letter for Louise and I and a separate one for my dad. I caught her writing them in bed and she told me what she was writing and where she was putting the letters. When she died I was the only one who knew they were in the top drawer of her dresser with her other precious things.” 

The letter read - “To be opened on my death.”

To my darling daughters,

If I should die suddenly I want you both to know and remember how very much I love you both and what an incredible joy you have been to me. How privileged I feel to have shared my life with you. You are special people and will bring joy and love to this wonderful world. You will grieve and miss me but don’t let it carry on and disturb your security and confidence.

Rest assured that wherever I am sending LIGHT and LOVE always. We all have to die, in the same way that we are born. I believe that we are here to learn the lessons of this lifetime and that we die and eventually are reborn to learn more lessons in future lifetimes. I feel that the biggest ‘sin’ is to waste this life.

In this world we need strong, clear-sighted humans to help it survive. I believe you were sent to me and Richard to put positive energy into this world. We have only been guides to assist you but in the end you have guided me, and this will be the case when you also have children.

Be aware and whatever you do in your lives observe yourselves, make sure it’s appropriate and a positive thing that you do. You are responsible for whatever comes into your life. There is no blame to cast, it’s all up to you. Open your hearts, give out your love and you will find that you will always receive more than you give. That is the joy of giving, but never give over your power to another. That is your gift to the world. Use it wisely for the good of all.

All life is letting go. From the time you were born, for me it has all been letting go, as you strived to be independent and individual, letting go of each stage and accepting the new one. At times I made mistakes as that is the way for all people, we are human and not perfect. But I do believe loving is setting free. It’s hard at times when we want to hold on but we have to let go and the ultimate letting go is letting go of life itself. Read Bartholomew, he says that death is beautiful.

We have all died many, many times before so why are we afraid? Dying is like letting the genie out of the bottle. That felt ok by me.

I could write more words but words are only words. Remember the LOVE. how wonderful it is to love each other and how it always continues wherever you or I are….

Mum, Sylvia.