Off the PAGE

S. Epatha Merkerson goes from buying books for her own pleasure to buying rights to film Leaving Cecil Street.

When S. Epatha Merkerson moved to New York City in 1978, her theater gigs often kept her on the road. "Every city I went to, I would look for the black bookstore," she says. "And I would buy books." She's not on the road as much now, thanks to a little television series called Law & Order. Merkerson has played lieutenant Anita Van Buren on the show since 1993. Hers is the longest-running African American character on prime-time television. Although Merkerson's career has changed, one thing has remained constant. "I'm still in that same habit of going to a bookstore and …