Jerry Mead

[Georgie]

For those of us who are new to the world of wine, and to this board, would one of you be kind enough to give us a brief biography of Jerry Mead? I'm getting some insights from reading past posts, but maybe you could briefly explain to us who he was, how he was involved with this board and with some of you who have been here for awhile. I know one thing above all, he was beloved. I'd like to know more.

[Botafogo]

On the First Day Curmie said "Let there be Wine (and R&B Music and cheese) for us to share, enjoy and argue about!" And it was Good...REALLY Good.

On the 21,901st day he discovered downloading pictures of sexy red headed cheerleaders and forwarding filthy jokes to his friends and commenced a long and fully relished descent into depravity...probably extended his life by five years (someone ought to fund a government study about that).

Miss you buddy, Roberto

[Innkeeper]

There is a tread on this Board called "Jerry's Kids", and it does not get much play and will never go away. Jerry Mead edited and produced a magazine called Wine Trader. It was the best wine magazine ever published. Some of the contributors are still on this Board, including a guy known as Bucko. Jerry also established this Board. Both the magazine and website exemplified his desire to stay in touch with everyone who drinks, produce, or sells wine. He wanted both to be a sounding board for one and all.

More than anything else he wanted justice in the world of wine. He wanted small producers to survive, and helped many to do so. He wanted all of us to be able to buy whatever wine we wanted from anywhere. He wanted retailers to be truly independent, and able to serve their customers.

He shot from the hip, and sometimes he hit his friends. But then, quietly, he would let them know that all was cool.

He was one of a kind.

[Kcwhippet]

(To expand on IK's reference to the founding of this board) - Once upon a time, there were many people on the AOL Wine Board. Then they said they were going to do away with it, and Jerry decided he was not going to take that lying down - hence this site. Most of us followed him here - in fact I cancelled my AOL subscription. I had never met him in person, but we corresponded for some years (email, snail mail, fax and phone), mainly about interstate wine shipping. I guess I got on his good side, because he gave me a gratis subscription to The Wine Trader. I'm not sure, but I think Bucko knows him better than just about anyone else here. Jerry Mead was The Wine Curmudgeon and he was a genuinely good person.

[This message has been edited by Kcwhippet (edited 07-07-2003).]

[Georgie]

I'm getting the picture. Does The Wine Trader still exist?

[Bucko]

Jerry was quite the character and quite an enigma. Quick-witted, sharp, a gentleman, a pervert of the finest kind [img]http://www.wines.com/ubb2/biggrin.gif[/img], and a guy who was short-tempered with government BS.

Jerry was the spearhead for the shipping rebellion. People like myself could get an FFL and have firearms shipped to them, yet could not get a case of wine shipped. This kind of stuff made Jerry crazy.

He was a friend to the wine industry. Jerry never trashed wines like some writers seem to enjoy doing, rather he set them aside and talked about the ones that earned mention. I always thought that he wa the Will Rogers of wine - never met a wine he didn't like. This was not the case. He just talked about the positives.

And of course he was famous for his A, B, and C list for e-mail. The C list for purely Walt Disney. The B list was R rated and the A list was...... well, the A list. I will not confirm that I was a charter member of the A list.

Jerry had a heart of gold and never forgot his friends, even when he was so ill that he could barely breathe. He is deeply missed.

[Jackie]

The WineTrader is no longer published. But back issues can still be pursued online at this very web site. Wines.com published the online version of the WineTrader for many years...

See http://www.wines.com/winetrader/

There are many back issues. I love reading the MASTER SOMMELIER column and the BOOK REPORT. Heck, I loved all of it. Jerry was a remarkable person. He was a mentor to many people and a snob to none.

Yes, he was very much loved.

Jackie

[Georgie]

Thank you, everybody. I'm sorry to have missed the Curmudgeon. The feelings expressed are a wonderful tribute to him.

[Thomas]

Yep--there was a man who really was one of a kind. My only reservation about any of the above is Bucko's use of the word enigma to describe Jerry.

I thought Jerry wore his beliefs right out there on his sleeve. I never felt he was hard to understand. He was a lover of freedom, free spiriting, free access to wine, and (as it relates to the Trader) free writers...

To truly illustrate his libertine personality, even as he was on his last breaths, and even after he learned that smoking was part of the cause of his problems, he defended the right of others to smoke tobacco if that is what they wanted to do.

[winoweenie]

Just a note. I HATED wine writers, wine mags, and mostly wine societies until I made my 1st fateful encounter with Curmy. He embodied everything I loved about the marvelous juice and reviled rhe things I hated. I became an immediate follower of the Wine Trader and Jerry and I talked 2-4 times a week. He couldn't stand pretentiousness in people, writing, or actions regarding wine. Like the bumper sticker " No Sniveling " Jerrys' caveat was " NO Snobbishness ". I even resisted this site for awhile but after a few of his " gentle " jibes I put my 1st WW post and have been here every since. One Hell of a guy!(My first-ever swear word on the board). I too miss the scoundrel. WW