I was in Pittsburgh for a work conference and took some time to call up John Seekings, the central figure throughout my seltzer book, to both meet him in person for the first time AND visit his seltzer works. It was a beautiful, hot summer day and I arrived atRead More →
Now try saying THAT ten times fast. Thank you Alicia of SodaStream!Read More →
I wrote recently about this fascinating CD tale, When Zaidy Was Young. I promised to share the cover art, as well as the back cover and the CD art. Note both the prominent role played by the seltzer siphon and, equally interesting, how little else but that siphon (and ofRead More →
The following is a tale nearly 200 years old, told on pages 134 – 146 of Sir Francis Bond Head’s “Bubbles from the Brunnens of Nassau.” The text is from Google Books, where each page, scanned from the original, can be viewed or searched through the computerized OCR reading (whichRead More →
Last Fall I wrote about being amazed at how much research has changed since I first began this project. Five years ago my challenge was finding the slightest reference to seltzer, seeking the proverbial needle in the haystack. Now, with Google Books, they’ve given me a new problem. Serving asRead More →
I am finally relistening to my original podcast series, which oddly enough has become a great source of research for me. The irony of course is it’s my research, but I did it so long ago I have already forgotten the details! One of the interviews, yet to be aired,Read More →
Thank you to all who made sure I didn’t miss this article in the New York Times about the recently injured seltzer delivery man and the impact is it having on his clients. We wish Mr. Beberman a fast recovery. Be sure to read the article and, afterwards, to clickRead More →
The weekly Forward, now in English, summarizes history highlights from its Yiddish past. We have seen in past years an imminent seltzer worker strike. This week we learned more about the conditions that led to it, reported one hundred years ago: “Seltzer is far and away the most popular drinkRead More →
The most well known character who will appear in my book is undoubtedly that of Joseph Priestley. His memory is kept alive in a variety of circles – by scientists, by Unitarians – but his memory is being recast by Steven Johnson in his new book, The Invention of AirRead More →
This week I spoke at North Shore Synagogue, in Syosset, Long Island. My sister was gracious enough to to film the event with a handheld. The video comes in multiple sections, so as one part ends the next will begin. It is around 40 minutes. It will look better onRead More →