BY ISAIAH FRIZZELL
Sarah Hedrick is THE living goddess of community awareness and intellectual treasure. A spectacularly beautiful and whimsically, extraordinarily fashionable woman (from her clothes and jewelry to the chandeliers and store décor—there’s almost a Kelly Wearstler vibe of wild and extravagant, simple but opulent, funky style for the visual and energetic enjoyment of enjoying the store).
Hedrick speaks with passion in positive, affirming tones and very much at length. She’s affable, funny and down to earth—you want to talk to her for days.
Do you read?
So, what are books but knowledge and lived experience passed forward in written form for us to learn, derive value and edification from. The literal reason we have congenial society as much as we do could easily be traced to the edification passed on through books.
Hedrick’s story is one of legend and tenacity. Iconoclast has been a name in the scene since her late husband began the store in Greenlake, Seattle. After many moves from Seattle to Ketchum, to an incredible bevy of spots all around Ketchum and Hailey, Iconoclast has weathered the storms of 2008 and the COVID-19 pandemic to become one of the most valued spots for readers and writers of all ages.
Hedrick is a local legend and Iconoclast Books & Gifts is more than the name of the store but perhaps the moniker best administered to her. Barkley, her shop dog, so beloved, is such a treat to meet and when in the store you’re bound to see new friends, the intellectually curious there, like a bar but with more paper rather than liquid.
Beginnings
Hedrick shows and proves, facilitating a safe spot for the disenfranchised, LGBTQ and, of course, any after-school meetup for kids who need somewhere to recreate, pontificate and enjoy the intellectual, social life of knowledge sharing.
But it’s all beget from the community. The Wood River Valley community is what facilitates the amazing space Iconoclast inhabits:
“One by one people came forward, like ‘hey, my crew finished early today, you can have them for the weekend.’ A welding crew! That’s the community here. One guy I found to do the flooring he gave me a bid that was extraordinarily beyond, I mean, it wasn’t even just fair, it was cheap. He was going to charge me a dollar a square foot to install this flooring and I gave him half of it up front in a couple of days. After he was done, he came by and he said ‘My boss says I can’t accept any more money.’ The boss was his wife, and he said we want to be a part of this community helping this bookstore and he wouldn’t let me pay! I mean painting, electricity, plumbing, flooring! I could make people cry with the amount of people that came forward out of the blue!”
“Glassmasters lent me huge trucks. You have to move the steel shelves, which involves un-welding them, moving them in, then welding them back together, cleaning and then stocking, so I had days and days and days of ‘where do I put these books?’ and Glassmasters just gave me one of their monster trucks.”
Unreal. This community knows no bounds. Currently, although waiting for code, Hendricks has already donated her basement, with computers and editing software, to a group of high school documentary filmmakers.
THIS Community
Hedrick’s storied beginnings, alone, deserve a book. But in no uncertain terms, she regales the community as her stewardship. The sheer beauty and incredible donations of time, labor and tenacity to help her open in her current spot, an absolute community hub adjacent to Atkinsons’.
To think it all began with Dave Christensen and Terry Maguire, a couple who bought the current location, as beneficent landlords, who directly approached her, explaining they “did not want to live in a town without a bookstore.” Imagine how community and joy begins with the love and dedication to the morals and dogma of the true community.
Visit the Iconoclast website for the best new reads (Hendricks is an avid and up-to-date reader with excellent recommendations). Spectacular jewelry, gifts, mugs, and genuine iconoclastic novelty.
Go to bookshop.org/shop/iconoclastbooks or, even more enjoyable, visit the store, talk to Sarah Hedrick (yes!) and pet Barkley! Visiting will brighten your day!
Iconoclast Books & Gifts
15 E. Bullion St., Hailey, ID 83333
Phone: (208) 726-1564
