Overview

Born a sharecropper in rural Alabama in 1930, Theodore A. (Ted) Mack, Sr., fought in the Korean War and defied the odds by playing football at Ohio State and earning a college degree. Brewing and selling beer, he believed, would be just another peak to summit. After all, it couldn't be more challenging than his experience in organizing buses to the March on Washington or picketing segregated schools in Milwaukee. This is the story of Mack's purchase of Peoples Brewing Company in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Though he had carefully planned for the historic acquisition, he underestimated the subtle bigotry of middle America, the corruption of the beer industry, and the failures of the Federal Government that plagued his ownership. Mack's ownership of Peoples Brewing is an inspirational story of Black entrepreneurship, innovation and pride at a time when America was at an important racial justice crossroads.

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9781476691671

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Reviews

Clint Lanier rummages through decades of history, tosses the myths, and unpacks the context to bring Ted Mack Sr.'s improbable story to a modern audience in this deeply researched and briskly written book. You find yourself rooting for Mack and his Peoples Brewery, and also gain insight into the arc of American brewing over the past century. It is the sort of book that surprises even the aficionados among us. Highly recommended. -- Tom Acitelli, author of The Audacity of Hops: The History of America's Craft Beer Revolution In 1911 the German-American beer writer John Arnold said that the history of beer is the history of the people. This is the history of Peoples Beer, and like the very best beer history, it is much more than the history of a brewery: it's the story, both fascinating and appalling, of a struggle for justice against prejudice. --Martyn Cornell, author of Author of Amber, Gold & Black: The History of Britain's Great Beers The book comes at a timely moment. Americans are reckoning with a long legacy of White control in the brewing industry. The industry is currently wrestling with this history and trying to understand the causes and conditions that led us here, and how to find a more equitable way forward. Mr. Lanier's portrait of Theodore Mack's efforts to use People's Beer as a vehicle for racial equity fifty years ago is an important contribution to that understanding. ... This is an excellent book, a poignant one, and it tells an important story. It has already begun to shape my thinking about the beer industry in the United States. --Jeff Alworth, author of The Beer Bible Theodore Teddy Mac was a Black entrepreneur with a warm heart and a big personality who dared to believe in the American dream, only to have his hard work smashed by a cutthroat brewing industry and corrupt political system. Unflinching and beautifully researched, Clint Lanier masterfully tells a story of a man who endured hardship his entire life only to emerge stronger through the sheer will of the American spirit. Ultimately, People's Beer is a poignant commentary on systemic racism wrapped in an inspiring story of entrepreneurialism and beer. -- John McCarthy, author of Whiskey Rebels: The Dreamers, Visionaries, and Badasses Who Are Revolutionizing American Whiskey

Clint Lanier rummages through decades of history, tosses the myths, and unpacks the context to bring Ted Mack Sr.'s improbable story to a modern audience in this deeply researched and briskly written book. You find yourself rooting for Mack and his Peoples Brewery, and also gain insight into the arc of American brewing over the past century. It is the sort of book that surprises even the aficionados among us. Highly recommended. -- Tom Acitelli, author of The Audacity of Hops: The History of America's Craft Beer Revolution In 1911 the German-American beer writer John Arnold said that the history of beer is the history of the people. This is the history of Peoples Beer, and like the very best beer history, it is much more than the history of a brewery: it's the story, both fascinating and appalling, of a struggle for justice against prejudice. --Martyn Cornell, author of Author of Amber, Gold & Black: The History of Britain's Great Beers The book comes at a timely moment. Americans are reckoning with a long legacy of White control in the brewing industry. The industry is currently wrestling with this history and trying to understand the causes and conditions that led us here, and how to find a more equitable way forward. Mr. Lanier's portrait of Theodore Mack's efforts to use People's Beer as a vehicle for racial equity fifty years ago is an important contribution to that understanding. ... This is an excellent book, a poignant one, and it tells an important story. It has already begun to shape my thinking about the beer industry in the United States. --Jeff Alworth, author of The Beer Bible Theodore Teddy Mac was a Black entrepreneur with a warm heart and a big personality who dared to believe in the American dream, only to have his hard work smashed by a cutthroat brewing industry and corrupt political system. Unflinching and beautifully researched, Clint Lanier masterfully tells a story of a man who endured hardship his entire life only to emerge stronger through the sheer will of the American spirit. Ultimately, People's Beer is a poignant commentary on systemic racism wrapped in an inspiring story of entrepreneurialism and beer. -- John McCarthy, author of Whiskey Rebels: The Dreamers, Visionaries, and Badasses Who Are Revolutionizing American Whiskey

Author Information

Clint Lanier is an assistant professor of English at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico. His writing about travel, history, food and drink has appeared in the Huffington Post, Eater, and Fodors.

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