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| Donus Roberts, the owner of DDR Books, stands next to his wife Lovila Roberts, who is seated in a chair. photo courtesy: @DonusRoberts / Twitter |
WATERTOWN, S.D. —Donus Roberts is the owner of DDR Books, a bookstore in a city that sits along the Big Sioux River.
Named after the Roman form of the Greek god, "Adonis," Roberts collected books all his life.
He estimates that he owns about 14,000.
In the early 80s, Roberts began collecting first edition authors and began selling books online.
A retired high school English teacher of nearly 40 years, he decided to open up a bookstore of his own.
Originally called ABC Books, he changed the name to Books from Donus Roberts until finally settling on DDR Books in 2007.
Afterall, everyone called him DDR during his teaching days at Watertown Public Schools, which began in 1960.
In fact, a love for literature and teaching runs in the family.
Not only is his wife, Lovila Roberts, a retired high school English teacher, but their daughter teaches English too.
The tradition goes all the way back to Roberts's mother, who had a keen interest in mythology, and so it's no surprise that she decided to name her son after the Greek god.
His mother first came across the name Donus after reading about a kid who drowned in Ohio and was very drawn to it after realizing that it was the Roman form of the Greek god.
"When my dad and mom got married in the 30s, they wanted to have children. It didn't appear to be likely and then she got pregnant," he said.
The name translates to "God's Blessing," or as Roberts puts it, "gift."
FIRST BOOK THAT GOT ME INTO READING:
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"I was fascinated by "Bambi" and I required my mother to read it, and read it and read it, so I basically had it memorized." MY FAVORITE BOOK: |
A store that carries about 50,000 books, he also holds author events, many of which focus on true crime.
"In South Dakota, we have a high population of Native Americans and unfortunately the disappearance and/or murder rate among them is extremely high," Roberts said. "Most of the cases for various reasons have not been solved. Most of the cases probably in a different ethnic group would be solved."
According to a press release from Republican representative Dusty Johnson, "68% of missing persons are Native Americans despite making up only 9% of the state population."
In some tribal communities, American Indian women have murder rates that are "10 times higher than the national average."
Many of the cases are underreported.
In some tribal communities, American Indian women have murder rates that are "10 times higher than the national average."
Many of the cases are underreported.
BOOK BANS IN SOUTH DAKOTA
"I find it extremely disappointing that there is so much pressure on censorship. It's a lot of noise being made by a very narrow audience," Roberts said. "I'm very disappointed that this is taking place, that there's such a fear of books, that books have become weaponized in this whole thing."
PEN America found that in a Department of Education report, they deleted the phrase, "race and gender bias, stereotyping, assumptions, etc..." from its teacher education curriculum, which fell under Language and Cultural Awareness, in the required South Dakota Indian Studies course.
This came in compliance with Republican Gov. Kristi Noem's executive order 2022-02, which requires them to undergo an investigation of its materials that would remove any "divisive concepts."
"I was a pretty liberal and pretty aggressive teacher. I'm fairly well-known in the teaching world and I'd probably be fired now," Roberts said. "Teachers nowadays especially high school teachers in the public education are just under a microscope."
One book that was removed from Rapid City reading lists was "The Circle," which caught the attention of its author, Dave Eggers.
As for his thoughts on edits being made by publishers in an attempt to remove offensive language, including Agatha Christie and Roald Dahl's books, Roberts is not in favor.
"You just can't remake things in the context of change and so I'm just always frustrated when you take a work that is from the past and try to remodel it for the present that is only, I think, temporary," he said. "I don't consider it the worst of the offenses but I understand the concern."
There have been mixed feelings among the reading community when it comes to editing literature.
Some say that by removing offensive language, it erases its historical context, while others argue that readers must keep up with the times.
What are your thoughts on the book ban situation happening across the U.S.? How about editing classics?
What are your thoughts on the book ban situation happening across the U.S.? How about editing classics?
Those interested in learning more about DDR Books can follow their Facebook page or check out their website.
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