Strand Bookstore Owner 'Buried At Sea' Wearing Shop's Sweatshirt

EAST VILLAGE, NY — The owner of the legendary Strand bookstore was "buried at sea" this month wearing his red, vintage Strand sweatshirt, according to the bookstore.

Fred Bass died Jan. 3 at the age of 89. The cause of death was congestive heart failure.

Specific details of his funeral were not available and it's unknown what the "burial at sea" consisted of.

The Strand is planning a public memorial service for Bass on Jan. 26. The writers Gay Talese, Fran Lebowitz and Adam Gopnik are all scheduled to speak at the memorial.

"He saw the Strand community as family and wanted those that were a part of it to celebrate his life with a party," the bookstore said of the memorial, which will be inside the bookstore just south of Union Square on Broadway.

Bass helped to take the iconic Manhattan book store from a small second-hand shop to the massive Union Square store that boasts "18 miles of books" – more than 2.5 million volumes.

The Strand, today located at 828 Broadway, first opened on Fourth Avenue in 1927 with Ben Bass, Fred's father, at the helm, according to the Strand's website. Fred began learning the family business at 13 and eventually took it over.

He worked at the store constantly throughout this life, aside from a brief stint in the Army, and helped expand the small bookstore into the New York institution it is today.

Image credit: Spencer Platt / Staff / Getty Images News