Regular readers know that my “day job” is at Food & Dining Magazine, where my responsibilities have expanded over the years from writing a quarterly print edition beer column (“Hip Hops”) to penning features, profiles and our “Comings & Goings” survey, as well as helping edit the restaurant listings.
Since 2019 I’ve stocked the larder of daily web site news and commentary posts, the 2000th of which should appear in March.
The four months annually that precede a quarterly print edition release date naturally are the busiest at the magazine. F & D’s next issue hits the streets in early March, and with a family holiday falling in the middle of February, I began work in mid-January to compensate for the time lost during this break.
Consequently, I’ve lately gotten little accomplished with regard to the ongoing “40 Years in Beer” memoir, but the compendium is fully updated. Next comes the momentous travel year 1998, with the archives at last exhumed and a dollop of needed sensibility restored to my recollections of these expeditions: the first-ever spring break motorcoach tour of beer shrines in Netherlands and Belgium, and my summer month spent roaming through the South of France, Pamplona (Spain) for the San Fermin fest, the French Alps, and London.
The 40 Years in Beer Compendium: links, previews, and coming attractions
Our long-planned (thanks Diana) February 2025 journey to the Balkans begins tomorrow, taking us through Skopje and Ohrid (Northern Macedonia) through Tirana, Albania, and with a day in Montenegro. Apart from the latter, where I’ve never been, the locales represent a return trip.
(They also represent a chance to make use of my new hip, as implanted in December. Last November, Split (Croatia) was successfully navigated with a cane and pain meds. This time, providentially, maybe I can stick with beer and my own two feet.)
I first experienced Macedonia as a 26-year-old in 1987, when the now independent nation was a constituent Yugoslav republic. The first Albania trip was in 1994. I encourage readers to keep an eye on the F & D web site; I have several articles coming about food and beer in these locales, which have been prepared to auto-publish in the coming days.
This leaves me with a final tease. For the past few months...Read more
