PREFACE

Summertime, 1969–Washington D.C.

Alcoholic or not, I can still remember my first “taste” when I fell in love with booze. My favorite cousin was getting married to his beautiful bride—the year was 1969. As mentioned above, the wedding happened in our Nation’s capital. If you happened to turn on your favorite FM radio station in New York, Philly, Detroit, Chicago, LA, or in D.C., you’d hear the Stones singing Honky Tonk Woman; Elvis singing In The Ghetto; the Beatles and John Lennon groovin’ to Come Together on their September released album Abbey Road. Zager and Evans were pounding out the lyrics to In The Year 2525, while the Temptations were soulfully singing their Motown hit, I Can’t Get Next To You. And every teenage boy and girl who loved to dance wanted to “grind” to ROBERTA FLACK and THE FIRST TIME EVER I SAW YOUR FACE.

As for the wedding itself, I remember very little except three words: Whiskey Sour and Barbara. I was 17 and had never had a drink.