Sunday, May 24, 2015

Over a Barrel.

And speaking of wine history.
I'm a bit behind with my reading.  I have had this book for a while, I just haven't been able to get to it because of all the other stuff I find myself doing.  Over a Barrel: The Rise and Fall of New York's Taylor Wine Company by Thomas Pellechia has started out just fine, but like Edward Gibbon's chronicling of Rome's demise I have a feeling it's going to end in tears.  We'll see.

5 comments:

New Hampshire Wineman said...

VG: Got-to-love the cover photo!
Ironic that you mentioned Edward Gibbon, because one of my first wine photos has his chronicle in it, and so does "Bigger Than Your Head" Wing Blog; It's an old but not forgotten book!

Thomas said...

Thanks for reading Over A Barrel, VG.

Of course, I read Gibbons and I must say that I am no Gibbons! But yes, tears may come at the end of the Taylor chronicle.

Speaking of chronicle, my wife and I collaborated on a book that comes out in October. Her father was a reporter on the Stars and Stripes newspaper in WWII. He was also the only reporter in the room to cover negotiations of the German surrender with Eisenhower (he was on the General's information staff).

He and my wife's mother shared about 900 letters over 3.5 years that he served in Ireland, London, Paris, and Liege. We edited the letters and included some of the Stars and Stripes stories to create a book, with dozens of pics, too. It's a treat.

Thomas said...

I'm also fond of the s.

Vinogirl said...

NHW: Yes, it's a good looking book, the dust cover feels good too.
That's quite a list of Zins!!!

Tomasso: I should imagine that was quite an undertaking. Was compiling info more or less difficult than an original work?

Thomas said...

VG: Every writing job is difficult, especially to a procrastinator, which most writers are, which I am doing right now...

Yes, it was an undertaking--many edit passes to get the meat of the letters and the size of the book right. We have secured one major endorsement for the cover from a well-known newsman and have a couple more who expressed a desire to give the manuscript a look. Both the publisher and we are pleased for that.

My wife's father's best friend was Andy Rooney, one of the many news people he worked with at the Stars and Stripes.