A local icon: Gene Porter, purveyor of The Man

Have you met The Man? This phrase is well-known in the Seattle area. It translates to "Have you tasted (and survived) the hottest hot sauce in the region?" It's a hot sauce purveyed by Gene Porter, owner of Dixie's Barbecue in Bellevue, WA, and the stuff is a genius marketing tool that's made Dixie's one of the most well-known eateries in the area.

Today we observe the passing of Mr. Porter, local icon and brilliant marketer.

Dixie's barbecue is in fact some of the best I've ever had. "The Man" was merely the thing that drew everyone in town--and people from across the country--to the restaurant and catering business. You never actually put it on food. You went to the restaurant and ordered whatever you were having. Gene would come around, table by table, asking "Have you met The Man?" and offering a taste. jackwilliambell, connoisseur of heat, always said that The Man had no socially redeeming value, that it was hot for hot's sake. But it did put Dixie's on the map, and Mr. Porter became a beloved local figure as a result.

News coverage indicates that Dixie's will go on without Gene Porter, which is a goodness. But his passing is indeed a sadness.

And in case you're curious, yes, I've met The Man. But only once. It was enough.

Ursula K. LeGuin and the Google Settlement

The New York Times is running an interview with Ursula K. LeGuin about the Google Settlement that originally appears in Science Blogs. She is brilliant and crystal clear on the subject, and comments about e-book publishing as well. vondanmcintyre is named-checked, among others. And the portrait of Ursula is gorgeous.

Conventioneering

Much to my bemusement, I find myself on the convention committee for Foolscap, a local science fiction convention that celebrates flat stuff: books, comics, and art. Our Guests of Honor this year are Emma Bull and Will Shetterly, and Cory Ench and Catska Ench.

One of our new efforts is going to be our Twitter feeds. I'll be one of the folks posting to each feed. @foolscapcon will be the formal PR feed, a pure announcement outlet for Official Convention News. @flatstuff is where we expect the fun stuff to happen: reports from other conventions, posts about books we're reading, news about our GOHs and members (if they'll allow us), and so on. I hope you'll follow along.