Monday, December 31, 2012

2012: Good friends we've lost along the way

I have a soft spot at this time each year for posting a brief look back on the year in terms of significant individuals that have departed this earthly life, leaving behind a lot of great beer and memories that they helped to create.

I don't always have a personal connection with each of them, but this year's list begins with Andy Musser, a trusted voice of the Philadelphia Phillies from my days of listening to him call games on the radio, to more recent years as a trusted voice and "ambassador" of Anchor Brewing Company where he'd formed a friendship with former owner Fritz Maytag. The last time I saw him in person was during a Philly Beer Week event a couple of years ago.

He, and these others, will be missed by anyone whose lives they have touched along the way.

Andy Musser, 1/22/12, natural causes, 74
Anchor Brewing Company representative and longtime Phillies baseball announcer
~ [Link to WPVI/ABC News]
~ [Link to Philly.com]
~ [Link to Philly.com]
~ [Link to Philadelphia Phillies]
~ [Link to a late-2012 Joe Sixpack memorial/tribute]
~ [Link to Carolyn Smagalski/Bella Online]
~ [Link to Chris LaPierre/Iron Hill Brewery]


Danny Williams, 1/23/12, cancer, 52
Brewers' Association, GABF beer organizer, and "gold-mine beer cellar" owner
~ [Link to Denver Westword]
~ [Link to Jay Brooks]
~ [Link to YouTube where Greg Koch gets Danny Williams on camera around the 25-second mark]

Tom Pastorius, 9/6/12, prostate cancer, 67
Penn Brewery, Founder
~ [Link to Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]
~ [Link to Jack Curtin]

Jim Patton, 10/23/12, unknown, 59
Abita Brewing Company, Founder
~ [Link to The Times-Picuyne]
~ [Link to Miami New Times]

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