Make Mine A Double!!!

Not only did Ed love liquor. He went further. He had a deep suspicion of anyone who did not. If a non-drinker shut up, minded his own business, and did not make an issue of his failing, Ed could be kind to him. But alas, a laissez-faire attitude is very uncommon in teetotalers. The moment one began to spread his poison Ed experienced a searing flame of scorn and rage. He believed that anyone who did not like to drink was either sick and/or crazy or had I him some obscure viciousness. He believed that the soul of a non-drinker was dried up and shrunken, that the virtuous pose of the non-drinker was a cover for some nameless and disgusting practice.



If pressed, Ed would name you the great men, great minds, great hearts and imaginations in the history of the world, and he could not discover one of them who was a teetotaler. He would even try to recall one single man or woman of much ability who did not drink and like liquor, and he could never light on a single name. In all such discussion, the name of Shaw was offered, and in answer, Ed would simply laugh, but in his laughter, there would be no admiration for that abstemious old gentleman.

John Steinbeck
from About Ed Ricketts

FYI: Hitler was a teetotaler...