Beloved bookstore cat Poe dies

Jimmy Tomlin, The High Point Enterprise, N.C.
·2 min read
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Dec. 1—HIGH POINT — Poe, the beloved cat at Sunrise Books, may not have been a master of the macabre like her literary namesake, but she was a literary icon nonetheless.

"She had her own fan club," said Angel Schroeder, owner of Sunrise Books. "She was just the perfect bookstore cat."

Poe, the shop's unofficial mascot, died Wednesday. Sunrise Books announced her death on its Facebook page.

"It is with great sorrow that we report the passing of Poe, our sweet, friendly, beautiful bookstore cat," the post read. "She was about 20 years old, and her last 4 years were spent in the bookstore, being adored by all."

During her four years of living at Sunrise Books, Poe authored her own story, enjoying free reign of the bookstore as she charmed customers by day and prowled as she pleased by night, occasionally amusing Schroeder by activating the store's motion-sensor cameras.

"We had some customers who would come in and not even pretend to look at books," Schroeder said. "They were just here to pet the cat."

Prior to 2018, Poe lived with her owner, Laura Simcox, who works at Sunrise Books. That year, though, when the bookstore moved to its current site on N. Main Street, Poe became a permanent fixture at the store, "because we actually had room for a litter box," Schroeder said, adding that she and Simcox took turns coming by the shop to feed her when the shop was closed.

Poe quickly became a favorite of customers, who loved petting the cat and even taking her picture.

"Poe was definitely the most photographed of all our employees," Schroeder said with a laugh.

With the move to the new store came the change to a new name. Formerly named Post, the cat was given the tell-tale moniker Poe, an obvious reference to acclaimed horror writer Edgar Allan Poe.

"We decided it needed to be a literary name," Schroeder said. "And then we realized the name wouldn't matter anyway, because cats don't come when you call them."

According to Schroeder, Poe apparently died of kidney failure.

jtomlin@hpenews.com — 336-888-3579