I just got off the phone interviewing Randy Miller, who at 17 – not yet out of high school – launched a new beverage company with his dad: Original New York Seltzer. The brand played a big role in making seltzer hip in the 80s and introducing the idea of Read More →
Florida seltzerman, Ryan Pinnell from Treasure Coast Seltzer Works, received this excellent local TV coverage. Ryan and the fascinating origins of his interest in seltzer are in my book.Treasure Coast company restores old fashioned ‘Seltzer Man’ Story by Mary Quinn O’Connor/CBS12WEST PALM BEACH (CBS12) — While soda consumption is downRead More →
When I interviewed Kenny Gomberg many years ago, proprietor of Gomberg’s Seltzer Works, he told me about a former employee, George Williams, who retired in the 1970s. An African-American who moved as a boy from North Carolina, he worked in a number of seltzer works around NYC for over twoRead More →
This past week I was in Pittsburgh and meet in person, for the first, John Seekings, proprietor of the Pittsburgh Seltzer Works, whom I have been interviewing for over 4 years and whose business is the centerpiece of my book. It was thrilling to meet him for the first timeRead More →
As I’ve focused more on writing the book and less on this blog, my comments about the project tend to appear more often on the Facebook page dedicated to the project. But I am playing now with Google’s Ngram viewer, that lets you search for occurrence of words to unearthRead More →
Below is a copy of a wonderful new article by Leah Koenig in the Forward about the seltzer revival at the center of my book (the book, btw, is now in a draft manuscript form and being shopped around). The Next Generation of ‘the Seltzer Man’ Something Big Is BubblingRead More →
Oops! I have been so busy with the book and the Facebook group, I have neglected the blog. Sorry! Last week I had a top of the fold, front page article in the Jewish Week. That was very nice. It is an interview with Walter Backerman, seltzerman extraordinaire. As ifRead More →
Walter has been sending me great material documenting his work, as he is a media hound and a lightening rod for anyone interested in the topic. Here is a radio piece on the BBC from last March. Start at 18:30. From July 5- July 10, 2007, a Japanese TV crewRead More →
Yesterday, after waiting for many years, I finally had the incredible opportunity to spend the day alongside Walter Backerman, who runs the nearly 100 year-old route. He was tremendously generous with both his time and opinions. I have HOURS of interview now to transcribe but, in the meantime, below areRead More →