The Ultimate Corkscrew Book

Don is a retired executive with an unquenchable thirst for corkscrews and corkscrew knowledge. In 1968, he was rummaging through a box in an antique store and found a bottle cap lifter embossed "Budweiser Means Moderation." That was the beginning of a beer advertising opener collection that grew to over 4000 in the next 20 years. In 1978, Don published his first book on beer advertising openers and corkscrews. In 1979, he founded "Just for Openers." By then, he had developed a greater passion for corkscrews, and, eventually, he sold the opener collection. In 1982, Don was invited to join the International Correspondence of Corkscrew Addicts (ICCA). This prestigious organization, founded in 1974, is limited to only 50 members worldwide. In 1986, he was appointed editor of the ICCA's Bottle Scrue Times, a position he held for four years. In 1991, he was elected Chief Correspondent, and, in 1993, he became the Right, the leader of the ICCA. After three years, he stepped down and retired with the title of "Mirth Right." In addition to his two books on openers, Don co-authored and published The Register of United States Breweries and American Breweries. Don's Beer Trivia book was published in 1985. Don is a member of the ICCA, the Canadian Corkscrew Collectors Club (CCCC), Just for Openers (JFO), the American Breweriana Association (ABA), and the National Association of Breweriana Advertising (NABA). He maintains a very active website (http://members.aol.com/corkskrue/index.htm.) where over 150 webpages and hundreds of photographs are available at the click of a mouse, so corkscrew addicts may get their daily fix. When Don retired as President of Goodway Technologies Corporation of Stamford, Connecticut, in 1997, his portrait was presented to him. Presidential (U. S.) portrait painter Benjamin McCready and Don agreed to dispense with a traditional portrait with a serious looking person simply sitting in a chair or standing at attention. They agreed that some action was needed in the portrait and what could be more appropriate than a bottle of wine and a corkscrew. The corkscrew chosen is the only known example of the "Read's Coaxer." Don owns this unique corkscrew created by Thomas Read, a cutler in Dublin in the 18th century.