By Alison Barnet
Olympia Flower on Washington Street in the South End is one of my favorite places, not so much for the flowers as for the people who run it.
For no particular reason, I didn’t go in for a few weeks recently and was therefore shocked beyond belief when I talked to her husband, Joe, and found out that Eileen Bornstein had died.
It hit me like a ton of bricks! It wasn’t just that she was a nice, friendly person, but she had done something so unusual for a flower store: she had made Olympia into a virtual museum with her 1980s photographs of the immediate neighborhood – the last days of the Washington Street El, Skippy White in his record store, Hotel Alexandra back in the day, and buildings and businesses no longer there, such as Andy’s Cleaners, Harvey’s Lunch, and the H&H Mart. This is what history is all about! Not only do her photos cover the store walls, she sold greeting cards made from the photos.
Eileen also talked freely about local history, telling fascinating stories about people and places.
She died on Sept. 13 at age 74. I will miss her terribly.
Alison Barnet is a longtime South End resident and author of five books on the neighborhood’s history.