Kepler's Books

When Roy Kepler opened this doors in nineteen fifty-five, he did not intend to run a conventional shop. He was a committed pacifist and conscientious objector who viewed the bookstore as a tool for social change. Alongside his colleague Ira Sandperl, who was a student and teacher of Gandhian nonviolence, Kepler turned the space into a hub for anti-war activism and intellectual discourse. The store became a centerpiece of the local counterculture during the nineteen sixties. It served as a gathering spot for Stanford students, Beat thinkers, and civil rights advocates. The atmosphere was so vibrant that the Grateful Dead performed live shows inside the shop early in their career. Joan Baez also frequently appeared to hold impromptu salons with community leaders to discuss music, politics, and methods of peaceful protest.