In Praise of Authors

Author (Churchill) by Rad DavisLike many of you, I have a lot of pipes. Too many, if such a thing is possible. While I love them all, some of them exert special magnetism. When I’m contemplating relaxing with a book, paper, or magazine – and I think about smoking a pipe as I read – I will inevitably reach for a particular pipe in that moment. It is in those moments of choosing that I experience that special magnetism. I will reach for a particular pipe.

Author by Premal Chheda, Aber Herbaugh, Thomas James, and Bill ShaloskyA couple of years ago, I penned a  post called “Comfort Pipes” where I wrote about how some pipes create the same psychological effect on me that comfort food does. Whereas I understand the origins of why I feel some foods are comfort foods and some aren’t – they are often related to particularly warm and vivid memories from childhood and young adulthood – I haven’t been able to put my finger on why some pipes feel more like comfort pipes than others.

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Balkan Sobranie Virginia No. 10

Updated on Tuesday, September 21, 2010 at 11:20AM by Neill Archer Roan

In pipe-smoking terms, yesterday was an atypical day for me. I opened and smoked a bowl from the pictured tin of Balkan Sobranie Virginia No. 10. For some years, I have strictly adhered to my own rule to open and smoke these rare tins only with friends and at pipe club meetings or shows.

Because the storied tobaccos are so rare and expensive, most pipe smokers can’t or won’t acquire them. So, the only chance many of us have to experience these tobaccos results from the generosity of our fellow pipe smokers. For example, if Fred Hanna hadn’t shared some of his remarkable Marcovitch, I would never have had the experience of smoking one of the most remarkable tobaccos that has ever tickled my palate.

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