On Demand
How Starbucks Saved My Life
Michael Gates Gill was having a great life - an Ivy League education, a high-powered job, and a happy family in the suburbs - but around the time he turned sixty, it fell apart. He lost his job, was diagnosed with a brain tumor, and had a foolish affair that led to a divorce and an unexpected child. He'll explain how he ended up becoming a barista at the Starbucks on 93rd and Broadway, how it changed his life, and why serving coffee is the best job he's ever had.
Purchase How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else at amazon.com.
Event: Michael Gates Gill will be speaking and signing books
Tuesday, September 25 at 7 pm
Lincoln Square Barnes & Noble
1972 Broadway, at 66th Street
Weigh in: What's the best job you've ever had?
- About This Program »
- Staff Bios »
- Contact Us »
- Guest Hosts »
- Guest Picks »
- Latest Show »
- Tapes & Transcripts »
- Show Archive »
Features & Series
Podcast
Stay up to date.
Subscribe to the Podcast
Shop at Amazon!
Leonard Lopate Show picks
Start your Amazon shopping on WNYC.org and a portion of your total purchase goes to WNYC.
More
Comments
Refresh
BARISTA BOUNCE
Latte luck to Michael Gates Gill,
Who's reached both peaks and valleys;
Here's hoping good things lie ahead
And his battered fortune rallies.
Mike and I go back to the halcyon days of J Walter Thompson. He's one of the few people who I have wanted to keep in my life over the years. I am happy to see him bouncing back from such travail, and using his creative talents to tell his story.
Joel
I think that people will read anything. You are in a situation due to your own actions. People make mistakes and I think the biggest mistake in this story is the fact that people think starbucks employees can be called baristas. They should be called drink makers. The art of the barista is almost scientific. You can't push a button and stir in milk. You must grind your espresso fresh, you must dial-in your grinder to produce the best quality grind possible, you must tamp the perfect grinds into your grouphead with 40-50lbs of pressure, and then push a button or pull a lever to get what we in the espresso business like to call a "god shot". This is the art of baristas! Shame on all of those people that refer to themselves or others as baristas! Dream on simple folks of Starbucks, dream on!
P.S. The best of luck to this Mike guy.
Leave a Comment
Please stay on topic, be civil, and be brief.
Back to EpisodeEmail addresses are never displayed, but they are required to confirm your comments. Names are displayed with all comments. WNYC reserves the right to edit any comments posted on this site. Please read the WNYC.org Comment Guidelines before posting.