Edward Lee Luoma

Ed Luoma grew up on a dairy farm in Brule, Wisconsin. He was the only child of the late George Luoma and Julia M. Anderson, née Mikkola. He was always curious about the wider world, and that curiosity led him to travel on a shoestring budget to several parts of the U.S. and Europe. He ended up in Philadelphia and started working at The Reader’s Forum in its original location. There are few professions more suitable for an auto-didact than being a bookseller. Ed acquired a vast knowledge of literature and a myriad other subjects, and he was able to expound on almost any topic.

Ed moved with the bookstore to Ardmore, and then to its final location in Wayne. He was always ready to make recommendations and chat with customers, many of whom became friends. He never owned a car -- a rarity on the Main Line – and he walked or took the train wherever he needed to go.

In 2007, with the help of many friends, Ed self-published a book, Without Knowing It, which he described as “slightly fictionalized fact” about a bookseller at a shop that had a distinct resemblance to The Reader’s Forum.

After the bookstore closed and Ed retired, he could frequently be found at a table in Panera or Starbuck’s, where he wrote and illustrated entertaining stream-of-consciousness essays that he referred to as “meditations.” He distributed many of these to both friends and passersby, sometimes first reading them aloud. Ed was a member of St. David’s Episcopal Church for the past 9 ½ years. 

A memorial service will be held for him in the spring.