Longtime Brazos co-owners to renew vows on Valentine's Day
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Barbara Radnofsky and Ed Supkis on their wedding day 44 years ago, and more recently. Photo: Courtesy of the couple.
Brazos Bookstore co-owners Barbara Radnofsky and Ed Supkis are renewing their vows at the bookstore on Valentine's Day — 44 years after getting married.
Context: Brazos is turning into a Vegas-style pop-up chapel on Valentine's Day, joining a handful of venues across the Houston area offering couples a low-cost way to elope or renew vows.
The intrigue: Radnofsky and Supkis are longtime community co-owners.
- Brazos opened in 1974. When founder Karl Kilian announced plans to retire and close the bookstore in 2006, a group of about a dozen Houstonians and Brazos fans came together to purchase it.
- Radnofsky and Supkis remain involved, including housing visiting authors.
What they're saying: The couple normally doesn't make a big deal out of Valentine's Day — if nothing else is planned, they might go out to dinner and quietly mark the day. But this year, they wanted to "just have some fun."
- "It was just a spur-of-the-moment thought," Radnofsky tells Axios. "I think everybody wants to get into the spirit of fun and love."
Flashback: Their love story had a NASA-assisted setup: Their dads worked together at the agency and decided to introduce them after she asked for "somebody nice." Radnofsky didn't think she'd fall for her father's pick — but decades later, they're still proving him right.
Radnofsky, a lawyer and author, and Supkis, an aviation medical examiner, have three children and five grandchildren. Their 5-year-old granddaughter will be a ring bearer.
- As for the outfits? "You wear what you want, and I'll wear what I want," Radnofsky says. She'll be in a new white dress paired with a green, sparkly, Elvis-esque jacket — fit for the theme.