In 1982, Aura Glaser created Crazy Wisdom Bookstore, which she located on East Ann Street. She moved the store to North Fourth Avenue in 1984, down the street from the People’s Food Co-op. Glaser sold the bookstore to Jonathan Ellis and Bill Zirinsky in 1989. Jon Ellis departed after four months but remained a trusted mentor. The next year, Ruth Schekter moved from NYC to Ann Arbor to live with her then-boyfriend, Bill Zirinsky. Zirinsky and Schekter grew the store, along with longtime managers Carol Karr and Sarah Newland, deeply expanding its book sections. In 1995, the Crazy Wisdom Journal started. In 1999, they moved the store into a building they had bought and renovated, at its present location on Main Street. The bookstore added a Tea Room and also began hosting all sorts of events on its second floor, including live music, poetry and storytelling nights, witches’ nights out, fairy teas for kids, drum circles, book talks and author events, Salon evenings, and a multitude of classes and workshops in its meeting room.

The bookstore closed for six months during the pandemic, and reopened without the Tea Room. The store closed again in 2022, at a time when Zirinsky and Schekter decided they were ready for a change. They began searching for a younger person to carry the bookstore forward. They enlisted former bookstore manager, Rachel Pastiva (currently the director of Friends of the Ann Arbor Public Library), and eventually found a warm-hearted, kind, capable and motivated new manager, Chandra Mitchel, and reopened in late 2023. In 2024, the second floor was lovingly renovated as an events space without food and beverage service, and re-christened “the Celestial Lounge,” and they added an Art Gallery on the second floor.

A few months ago, in June 2025, Bill Zirinsky and Ruth Schekter licensed Chandra Mitchel, and her partner, Jon Rothenberg, to run Crazy Wisdom Bookstore, selling them the retail inventory, and leasing to them the bookstore’s first floor and lower level. Crazy Wisdom, Inc., Zirinsky and Schekter’s company, which has owned the bookstore and the publications, will continue to publish The Crazy Wisdom Journal, The Crazy Wisdom Monthly, and the Ann Arbor Holistic website. Crazy Wisdom, Inc., will also continue to publish a Weekly e-Blast for its thousands of subscribers, and to maintain its websites and social media presence. The Second Floor at 114 S. Main Street will be managed by Crazy Wisdom Bookstore (Chandra and Jon) in collaboration with Crazy Wisdom, Inc., (Bill and Ruth).

To help launch Chandra Mitchel in her new role as the shepherd of Crazy Wisdom Bookstore, we wanted our readers to get to know her a bit. An interview with her follows…

You are now spearheading Crazy Wisdom Bookstore. You follow in the footsteps of Aura Glaser, Jonathan Ellis, and then Bill Zirinsky and Ruth Schekter. What are your hopes for the bookstore under your stewardship?

I feel incredibly honored to be stewarding such a beloved and iconic space. For over three decades, Bill & Ruth tended Crazy Wisdom with reverence and love, creating a true sanctuary. It’s an honor to walk in their footsteps, and I am so grateful to them for all of their support and for the opportunity. My hope is to carry forward their legacy while gently evolving the space to meet the needs of a new generation. I want Crazy Wisdom Bookstore to remain a haven for spiritual exploration and conscious living. I want it to remain a place of discovery: for books, for healing, for treasures, and for one’s own inner journey.

You were the manager of the store since it reopened in December 2023. What most struck you about the store during the time you were manager? And what was most interesting about the store’s customer base?

What struck me most was how deeply loved this place is and how emotionally attached people are to the bookstore. People walk in with stories—first dates in the Tea Room, marriage proposals on the sales floor, or just that time they found the exact book they didn’t know they needed. Our customers are curious, open-hearted, and beautifully diverse. Some have been coming for decades; others wander in for the first time and instantly feel amazed. It’s a privilege to serve this community.

The store’s tagline under Bill and Ruth was “a bookstore about consciousness.” What did that tagline mean to you in the past, and in what ways might that tagline continue to define your purpose? Or will Crazy Wisdom Bookstore be getting a new tag line?

I love the tag line. To me, “a bookstore about consciousness” suggests a place where transformation is always possible—through a book, a conversation, a class, or an intuitive reading. As we move forward, we may play with new language that reflects our current voice and intentions, but that core message—supporting awareness, growth, and soulful living—will remain central.

The bookstore had a strong focus on Buddhism and other spiritual traditions, including pagan and earth religions, psychological growth and body-mind therapies, integrative medicine and holistic health and healing, conscious living, sustainability, womenspirit, and mindfulness. Among those subject areas, do you feel particularly passionate about any of them? Are there other subject areas that you hope to grow and build on?

I feel particularly connected to nature-based spirituality and the divine feminine. And as a long-time jewelry artist working with crystals and sacred symbols, I see art as a spiritual practice. As far as subject areas that I hope to grow and build on, I’m passionate about making space for underrepresented voices, whether that’s BIPOC teachers, queer mystics, feminine viewpoints, or newer intersections of science and spirituality.

How will your sidelines (jewelry, art, crystals, incense, candles, instruments, etc.) be the same and what will be different? What are you most excited about, with respect to the sidelines?

We’ll continue to offer what people love—beautiful crystals, handcrafted jewelry, incense, candles, singing bowls, sacred tools, and all the goodies people expect from Crazy Wisdom Bookstore—but I’m excited to place a greater focus on fair trade and ethical sourcing. Something new I am delighted to be adding to the store are some beautiful vintage items such as spiritual/religious statues and art.

Will you continue to hold events upstairs on the second floor?

Yes! Upstairs will remain a community gathering space and we will continue to offer classes, author events, art exhibitions, music nights, workshops, and other gatherings. In addition, it will be available for private party rentals.

Will you continue to have intuitive and tarot readers working at Crazy Wisdom Bookstore?

Absolutely. Our intuitives, mediums, and tarot readers are vital to the spirit of Crazy Wisdom Bookstore.

Please tell us a bit about your work life in the years before working at Crazy Wisdom.

Before Crazy Wisdom Bookstore, I wore many hats: I co-founded a bodycare company where I handled everything from operations to social media to sales. Before that, I served as General Manager of a provisioning center where I led a team of 20+ and helped shape employee education programming and community events. I’ve also worked as an Executive Assistant where I supported partners and clients, built systems, and managed content. While my children were small, I managed our family farm and was a jewelry artist for over 25 years. Looking back, it feels like all those threads were leading me here.

Do you have kids, and if so, what are their names and ages, and please tell us about them?

Yes, I have three daughters. Zenah is 31, married, and works as a senior program manager in NYC. Yakirah is 23 and is a senior paralegal at an immigration law firm in NYC. And Avivah, who’s 20, is a college student studying elementary education in Detroit, who sometimes works at the store! I am so grateful to share my life with them—they are easy to love, they are thoughtful, empathetic, determined, and intelligent. I learn so much from their perspectives.

Who is Jon Rothenberg, and what role will he play?

Jon is my fiancé and partner at Crazy Wisdom Bookstore. He brings years of experience as a financial advisor and business strategist. While I’m focused on the creative, operational, and community-facing aspects of the store, Jon is helping behind the scenes making sure Crazy Wisdom Bookstore not only survives, but thrives.