Rare Books, Great Stories and Western Icons

Picture: Ken Sanders owns Ken Sanders Rare Books in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ken Sanders, a legendary bibliophile, owns Ken Sanders Rare Books in Salt Lake City. The Plum crew stopped in to talk to Sanders while they were in the area for Sundance Film Festival this past winter.

This welcoming storyteller was happy to show off his most prized books and share his eclectic stories. Sanders has ties to the famous Cosmic Airplane head shop in Salt Lake City, was friends with author Edward Abbey, who wrote "The Monkey Wrench Gang," and is also close with comic book illustrator and author R. Crumb. In addition to owning the bookstore, he also runs Dream Garden Press, and specializes in books about the literary west, Mormonism, Edward Abbey, Wallace Stegner, national parks, public lands and the environment.