Paraphrasing the late, great Rodney Dangerfield: “I’m okay now but you shoulda seen me the past three weeks.”
Once I assumed the late Ron Mikulak’s editorial responsibilities at Food and Dining Magazine in January of 2023, many aspects of my life were tweaked to conform with the quarterly cadence of its publication schedule.
(Of course, until November of 2023, I was also busy with the beer program at the former Pints&union; by all available metrics save one*, it was an extremely successful tenure.)
Basically, the months of February, May, August and November, which immediately preceded publication, became very busy in terms of my work at F & D. All the while I’d be doing my daily web site postings, but for six or seven weeks following the heavy prep months, there’d be far less to do.
Unsurprisingly, these “off” months became my time to focus on “40 Years in Beer” (keep reading for an update).
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Most of you know that John Carlos White, founder and publisher of F & D, and my friend and employer, died on February 19, and as you might imagine, it’s been a gut-wrenching state of anguish, melancholy and limbo for me ever since then.
First and foremost, I didn’t properly take into account how attached I’d become to the man and his magazine. He wasn’t just a boss, and the gig wasn’t just a job. John was only 65, which if you ask me is a little too close for comfort.
We were born four months apart in 1960. John grew up in Clarksville; I went to Floyd Central. We were very different people, and yet shared formative experiences growing up in Southern Indiana. He served in the Navy and saw the world; I backpacked in Europe. We found common, fervent ground in promoting independent small businesses, as opposed to chains and franchises.
A natural salesman, John created Food & Dining Magazine in 2003 as his own indie small business vehicle, and a few months later asked me to write a quarterly beer column for his new publication.
I never knew exactly how he came to this decision, but someone recommended me to him, and so the print edition of “Hip Hops” was born, continuing to the present day (and online, quasi-weekly, since 2019). My most recent print column was filed in February.
In 2016, when I revealed to the world that I’d be stepping away from the New Albanian Brewing Company, John immediately...Read more
