100 Years Later, Learning From Disaster

April 12, 2006

At 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the San Andreas fault near San Francisco snapped and slipped some 13 feet. The resulting earthquake destroyed hundreds of buildings and initiated a fire that raged for three days, gutting the commercial and cultural capital of the West Coast. Between 3,000 and 5,000 people lay dead in the ruins of almost 30,000 buildings.

This April 18, San Francisco celebrates, warily, the centennial of the Great Earthquake and Fire — the archetypal American natural disaster.

Read the rest on the NYT site…

Posted in New York Times, Newspapers

From Sitcoms to Farm Markets, Charms Abound in Los Angeles

April 9, 2006

MY wife doesn’t like Los Angeles. “The cars,” she says, “the smog — it’s a wasteland!” In the decade Nina and I have been married, I have never come close to convincing her that the cradle of global popular culture has any redeeming qualities — but it’s always fun trying.

More than most cities, serious online legwork is a prerequisite to rooting out L.A.’s charms, but they are multifold: even before we arrived I knew our problem would be time, not money.

Read the rest on the NYT site…’

Posted in New York Times, Newspapers

The Coffee Book:
Anatomy of an Industry From Crop to the Last Drop

Spring 2006



Completely revised and updated for 2006, The Coffee Book ranges from bean to cup, exploring production, the history of café society, dramatic tales of high-stakes international trade, health aspects, the industry’s major players, and the specialty coffee revolution-including the very latest developments in sustainable coffee. Jammed full of facts, figures, cartoons, photos, and commentary.

The first edition of The Coffee Book came out in 1999, to great acclaim. It was brown, like this:

Coffee Book edition 1

The new, revised 2006 edition updates the coffee story with everything that’s taken place in the early years of the new century.

The Coffee Book has its own site or just take a look at it on Amazon.

Posted in Books