Philip Levy, Owner of Bridge Street Books, Dies
By • October 14, 2017 0 2381
Philip Levy, owner of Bridge Street Books in Georgetown, died suddenly Thursday morning, Oct. 12, on his way to New York City. According to associates, Levy, 72, suffered a heart attack.
Born in Washington, D.C., Levy attended Sidwell Friends School and was a graduate of the University of Wisconsin. In 1980, he founded his independent bookstore at 2814 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.
According to a Washington Post death notice, Levy was “a very active board member of The Play Company (New York) and the University of Wisconsin’s Department of History.” The notice noted the bookstore he founded was characterized by “George Will as ‘a small island of individuality’ and by others as ‘the intellectual’s bookstore.'”
The notice added that Levy was “predeceased by his parents, Samuel and Gertrude Levy, and his brother, David. He leaves behind his brother, Richard and wife, Lorraine Gallard; sister-in-law, Seena; his devoted nephew and nieces, Benjamin, Karena and Sarabinh; six grand-nephews and nieces, close cousins and dear friends as well as the dedicated staff of Bridge Street books.”
Members of his family were and are involved in Georgetown commercial real estate — especially his brother Richard, managing principal of the Levy Group, a Washington, D.C.-based real estate investment and property management company. His brother David ran the Key Theatre, formerly at 1222 Wisconsin Ave. NW for almost 30 years.
Funeral services were held Oct. 16 at Washington Hebrew Congregation, 3935 Macomb St. NW.
A gathering celebrating Philip Levy’s life will be held in New York City at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, the family requests that contributions in his memory be made to the Play Company, New York, or to the University of Wisconsin Foundation, directed to the Department of History.
