Carla Cohen, the co-founder of Politics & Prose who died of cancer last week, told the Washington Post in 1999 that a movie about the violinist Isaac Stern had helped inspire her to open her store: "If only I could be like Isaac Stern and do something in my life that would bring nothing but pleasure to other people," she was quoted as saying. "And that's how I feel about what I do now."

As has been noted by many this week, Cohen (along with her co-owner, Barbara Meade) brought pleasure to others not merely by selling books, but by making her landmark bookstore a thriving community center, where people who love books could shop, read, and meet. With its basement coffee shop, its book clubs and book discussions, its knowledgeable sales staff and its author events, Politics & Prose has always sought to facilitate the relationship between writers and readers.

And so it is not surprising that the bookstore, just south of Chevy Chase, Md. in Northwest D.C., recently reached out to a new generation of readers, by hosting a mother-daughter tea featuring two local writers, Jennifer Allison and Caroline Hickey.

While Politics & Prose has a full calendar of children's events, this was its first mother-daughter tea. It was a beautiful afternoon outside, but the gorgeous weather did not keep the cross-generational book lovers from attending, as the girls and their moms sat around the big table in the "remainder" room, sipping tea and lemonade, and nibbling on cookies and cake.

The two writers kicked off the discussion by offering brief synopses of their books. Allison's latest novel in her Gilda Joyce series, The Dead Drop, is set in Washington, D.C., where Gilda, a 13-year-old "psychic investigator" with an "iconoclastic fashion sense," has landed a job at the International Spy Museum. Hickey's Isabelle's Boyfriend, her second novel, is about 15-year-old Taryn Greenleaf, who meets the guy of her dreams only to discover he's someone else's boyfriend.

With the warmth and humor that characterizes their writing, Allison and Hickey took turns explaining how they themselves became published authors. Avid readers as children, they each carried that love of books and reading through many varied careers. 

Allison commented, "Sometimes writers are people who are so curious about different things that they explore different paths in life, but it winds up serving them well." Hickey agreed, "If you follow what you know you love to do, it can lead you to where you realize you wanted to go."

Both Allison and Hickey cautioned the girls that if they want to grow up to someday become writers "you can't wait to get inspired," and advised them to write a little every day.

After describing what their own writing process is like and discussing some of the basics of the book publishing industry, they opened up the floor to a Q & A period, and then signed books for the girls.

The event was a success with the writers, moms, and daughters. "I thought this was the kind of thing I'd like to take my own daughter to someday," said Hickey of her young daughter.

"I liked it because you were very close to the authors, and you got to hear about them and about the writing process. It was fun to meet real authors, because when I read books, I imagine what the author is like, and now I know!" said Abigail Muro, a sixth-grader from Chevy Chase.

Her friend Allison House, who also lives in Chevy Chase, agreed. "I really liked it – meeting real writers made me want to read and write more!"

The day after the tea, I read that Carla Cohen had died, and I mentioned to my kids what an extraordinary gift she had given our area. Many of the media tributes to Cohen described Politics & Prose as an iconic feature of the area's cultural landscape; a place where people come to hear Bill Clinton, Salmon Rushdie and Jhumpa Lahiri; a place where the city's brightest literary lights crossed paths with the most intense of its wonkerati. But that is not the only reason Politics & Prose is so cherished by its neighbors. It is also a place where mothers and daughters, and aspiring young writers, could come together on a lovely afternoon in late fall and talk about books.