Ben Watson, longtime editor at Chelsea Green Publishing, author (Cider, Hard and Sweet: History, Traditions, and Making Your Own), apple advocate, and cider ambassador, died August 15. He was 64.
 |
|
| Ben Watson | |
Over three decades with Chelsea Green, he acquired and developed such titles as Wild Fermentation by Sandor Katz, Gaia's Garden by Toby Hemenway, The Flower Farmer by Lynn Byczynski, The Art of Natural Cheesemaking by David Asher, The Apple Grower by Michael Phillips, and The Straw Bale House by David Bainbridge.
"His editorial judgment helped to shape the reputation of the company," said Chelsea Green's deputy publisher, Matthew Derr, in a statement to staff. "We are forever indebted to him."
In a tribute, Cider Chat wrote that Watson's influence "stretched well beyond the pages of his books. He was a longtime presence during the formative decades of the annual event initially known as CiderDays in western Massachusetts. He also traveled widely in the United States and abroad in pursuit of apple and cider knowledge, championed heirloom varieties, and became an important bridge between the people growing apples, making cider and trying to understand the traditions behind both. For many in the cider community, he was simply one of the people you expected to find wherever serious conversations about apples and cider were happening."
His friend Jeff Downing described Watson as an "excellent ambassador" for apples and cider: "Whatever he learned outside of the U.S., he brought that back, and whatever he learned inside the U.S., he brought that out.... He was just an excellent ambassador for apples and... what it take to make good cider."
His book Cider, Hard and Sweet "arrived at an important moment in the revival of American cider. It didn't treat cider simply as another alcoholic beverage. Watson placed it within a much larger world of apple varieties, orcharding, history, culture and traditional methods of cidermaking.... Long before today's proliferation of cideries and renewed interest in cider-specific apples, Watson was helping readers understand that the character of cider begins with the fruit."
His works include Heirloom Vegetables and many other books he co-authored. At his death, he was working on a new project called Brother Apple.
Watson left behind a collection of hundreds of books about apples and related subjects, and friends are beginning to consider how that library, along with his papers and other materials, might be preserved.
Asked what he hoped people would remember about his friend, Downing said, "He devoted his life to words, ideas, food, farming, apples, cider, and the people who shared his passion.... He never stopped learning and sharing."