Shakespeare and Company is a bookstore in Paris with more stories than just the ones on its shelves. It has played a part in the lives of many authors throughout the years, including those of the Lost Generation, and then later the Beat Generation. Between these two eras, the bookshop changed location. The original one, opened by Sylvia Beach on Rue de l'Odéon (which had actually started on rue Dupuytren before that) was closed in 1941 during German occupation, and never reopened. In 1951, American George Whitman opened the current Shakespeare and Company where it stands today - though it was named Le Mistral until 1964. Whitman was renowned for his kindness, and would shelter and feed guests in the bookstore - himself having often been cared for by strangers during his years hitchhiking. He called his guests 'Tumbleweeds' as they would "Blow in and out on the winds of chance", and his only condition was that if they wished to stay they read one book each day. Whitman passed away in 2011, but the store still welcomes and lodges 'Tumbleweeds', still requiring them to read a book a day. Whitman's daughter Sylvia now runs the store. She was named after the owner of the original.
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