When my sons were much younger they loved dinosaurs. And so they loved animated series of movies starring a group of singing dinosaurs called The Land before Time. I watched those movies with my sons those twenty plus years ago on prehistoric format known as VHS. I had just left a career at a burning... Continue Reading →
A reasonable question “Are you mad at Starbucks?” My editor asked me over the phone. He had just finished reading an excerpt from Tripio. I had sent him an excerpt from in middle of Tripio. He offered that it had been his experience in editing that writers most often refined the beginnings and ends of... Continue Reading →
Kevin Knox answers another of my questions Question-In the blogosphere, Starbucks seems to be an easy target to hate on for easy clicks. It tends to bother me. Does it bother you? Or is it deserved? Kevin's Answer-I think most of the criticism is uninformed. Howard Schultz deserves enormous respect on the business side (along... Continue Reading →
"The last time I saw Howard was at my store in Oak Park. I was the manager then. He was with the new Regional Manager- Stu. Yes, Stu Fields. God no. I give Stu hell in Tripio. Not really. But, the whole incident with the spilled mocha on the door and Stu talking into his... Continue Reading →
Question for Kevin-If Howard (Schultz) had stayed at Xerox, would Starbucks have come to be? In other words was a company like Starbucks inevitable to some degree? Answer - Without a doubt Starbucks would have remained regional without Howard. I had a conversation with Jerry Baldwin after the buyout and his move down to Peet’s... Continue Reading →
Jay kept his place in line at the Palm Springs Starbucks. He remembered when they used to sell coffee. He remembered all the varietals under the counter. The shiny dark beans, dated and organized by growing region. Such great coffee. For now the line that held Howard Behar and him was not moving very fast.... Continue Reading →
"There must be a game at Wrigley tonight. It is Monday and there are more people around than usual. Looks like they plan on having some fun. I love living here, walking these streets and making them mine. I am beginning to realize that my job at Cosmodemonic * gives me something of an edge... Continue Reading →
I recently caught up with two men who were working for Starbucks before most anyone knew or cared about much about coffee in this country. I wanted to provide a unique look back at the now legendary company through the lens of my historical fiction novel, Tripio. By that I mean, I hope that this... Continue Reading →
This week was a momentous one on the journey to publish Tripio. In a previous post I detailed the final approval and legal transfer of the art from the locally grown artist who produced the original cover. A few days later, my tech support dropped by and put Tripio in line to be approved for... Continue Reading →
Yesterday my daughter spent some time on the internet trying to find an English version of a French Starbucks documentary she had seen on a flight home for the holidays. It was called “Starbucks Unfiltered” and she could find the French version, but nothing with English subtitles. A little bit later, as we watched... Continue Reading →
