Henry Berliner, who enriched the lives of innumerable New Haven residents through his passion for books, community, and conversation, died on Oct. 25 at the age of 73, surrounded by loving family and friends. Known to many in New Haven through his career as the owner of The Foundry Bookstore, “Hank” was a beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, and cousin, whose easy laugh, rich knowledge, and geniality earned him friends throughout his life.
Henry was born on Feb. 3, 1950, the son of Robert and Leah Berliner. He grew up in Chevy Chase, Maryland, just outside of Washington, DC, and graduated from Washington University in St. Louis in 1972. Between protests against the Vietnam War in college and observing life in an autocracy as a high school exchange student in the Philippines, Henry honed a sharply critical political sense. He moved to New Haven in 1973, where he met his wife of 46 years, Mickey Kavanagh, at a pickup softball game (a sport that Henry kept playing and/or cheering for nearly all of those 46 years).
Aside from spending time with family and friends, Henry’s greatest passion was books. He spent his working years at The Foundry Bookstore on Whitney Avenue, and for 29 years from 1974 to 2003 curated and sold a delightful collection of titles in every genre, though fiction, history, and children’s stories were arguably the stars of the shelves. Every customer who sought a recommendation could be directed to just the right location, for just the right book, which more often than not had been read by the proprietor himself. Much like Henry, the space was warm and abundant, with books in every nook and cranny, and faithfully served the literary needs of the New Haven and Yale communities alike.
Reading was not a solitary affair – Henry shared his love through book clubs, book reviews on public radio, and a seemingly endless supply of gifted and regifted books to family and friends. Henry loved baseball, birding, barefoot expeditions, music, travel, camping, and meals filled with conversation and laughter – the more he could share, the merrier he and everyone else would be.
Henry will be deeply missed by his family, including wife Mickey Kavanagh; daughters Juleah and Jemal; grandson Lake; sister Alice Hadler and her husband James Hadler; sister Nancy Berliner and her husband Alan Plattus; brother Robert Berliner and his wife Kathy Ameche; and numerous nieces, nephews, cousins, and friends.
A memorial service will be held at 10:30 a.m. on Nov. 25, the Saturday after Thanksgiving (Henry’s favorite holiday), at the Unitarian Universalist Society, 700 Hartford Turnpike, Hamden, CT.