Gourmet coffee guru Alfred Peet dead at 87

Alfred Peet

Reuters reports:

Coffee legend Alfred Peet, creator of Peet's Coffee & Tea Inc., a forerunner to Starbucks Corp., has died at his home in Ashland, Oregon, his company said. He was 87.

Peet, known as the grandfather of the specialty coffee movement in the United States, taught the tricks of the trade to the founders of Starbucks and sold them their first year's supply. He passed away on Wednesday.

"He had this great love of coffee," said Jim Reynolds, roast master emeritus of Peet's Coffee & Tea, who worked with Peet in his early years.

"He was so helpful to many people in the business. When Starbucks was getting going, the founders of the company really needed help. He let them work in his store and taught them about coffee," said Reynolds on Saturday.


Peet was born in Holland, the son of a coffee and tea merchant. He learned the trade in Amsterdam, London, Indonesia and New Zealand before moving to the United States in 1955. Peet opened his first shop in 1966 in a rundown neighborhood in Berkeley, California that was later dubbed the "Gourmet Ghetto."

The store flourished and Peet soon opened additional shops in the San Francisco Bay area. Peet sold his business in 1979 but stayed on as a coffee buyer until 1983, and as a consultant after that.

"Up to the time he started, the quality of coffee in the U.S. was really poor," said Reynolds. "But he developed a market for those types of coffee."

The gourmet coffee trend in the United States started on the West Coast and moved east. Peet was known for using high-quality beans and a roasting method that produces a distinctively deep flavor. His company, which went public in 2001, continues to use his techniques today.

Although a company spokesperson declined comment on the cause of death, Reynolds said Peet died of cancer.

He is survived by a daughter, two grandchildren and a sister.

Peet's Coffee & Tea is a specialty coffee roaster and marketer. It operates 151 stores, about 90 percent of which are in northern California.

He Is Dead

In this undated photo released by the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta, Norton, one of the original whale sharks on exhibit at the aquarium is shown. Officials at the aquarium reported that Norton died early Wednesday, June 13, 2007, and is the second whale shark to die at the facility in five months. (AP Photo/Courtesy of Georgia Aquarium)

The Washington Post reports:

For the second time in less than six months, a whale shark at the Georgia Aquarium, the only facility outside Asia to display the rare fish, has died.

The whale shark, known as Norton, had stopped eating in recent months and was swimming erratically, according to a statement from the aquarium. Veterinary and husbandry staff members conducted tests that confirmed Norton's declining health.

On Tuesday, he was placed on 24-hour watch. Early Wednesday, Norton stopped swimming and settled to the bottom of his 6 million-gallon tank. Divers brought him up on a stretcher for additional tests and treatment, and "after every option had been exhausted to improve Norton's health, the team made the decision to humanely euthanize him," aquarium officials said in the statement.

In January, the aquarium lost another whale shark, the world's largest fish and one of the facility's most popular attractions. Ralph, which arrived with Norton in June 2005 from Taiwan, died of an inflammation to a membrane in his abdomen. Two female whale sharks, Alice and Trixie, came to the facility in June 2006.

Before the females arrived, the aquarium team had noticed both male whale sharks lost their appetites around the same time and theorized it was because of a chemical used in the exhibit to treat parasites, said Ray Davis, senior vice president of zoological operations at the aquarium.

As a precaution, the aquarium stopped using the treatment, he said. But officials are still investigating whether the chemical played a role in the animals' deaths.

"We have some of the pieces but not all of them," Davis said, adding that necropsy results often take months and can be inconclusive. "We want to make sure we move the team from the bereavement phase to the scientific and necropsy phase."

As with Ralph, a necropsy will be performed on Norton and then he will be cremated, according to a letter written to the aquarium's ticket holders by Jeffery S. Swanagan, its president and executive director.

On June 4, the aquarium welcomed two whale sharks from Taiwan, Yushan and Taroko. After reviewing Ralph's death and Norton's health, aquarium officials determined that it would not be a risk to add the pair, Davis said.

The whale shark grows up to 66 feet long and lives in tropical and subtropical waters. It is considered harmless to humans, feeding on plankton and small fish with its approximately 3,000 small teeth.