SC - Off topic/ American Mead Association

[Crystal A. Isaac]

Hello,

Sorry for the use of bandwidth, but this worthy organization is trying
to get on its feet again; and I suspect the SCA is full of old AMA
members. Please forward as necessary with suitable apologies for taking
up bandwidth.

The following post was published on the Mead-Lover's Digest,
administrated by Dick Dunn. 

thanks,
Crystal of the Westermark
Chancellor of the West Kingdom Brewers' Guild
(mka Crystal A. Isaac)


Subject: American Mead Association: stories, plans, what-to-do
From: rcd at raven.talisman.com (Dick Dunn)
Date: 18 Feb 98 22:17:26 MST (Wed)

Quick outline:  What happened.  What's going on now.  What to do if you
were a member.  ===>The last one is important.<===

I've had a steadily increasing stream of queries about the American Mead
Association (AMA).  It finally became easier to dig up some info than to
keep saying "I don't know" in varying levels of detail.

What happened?
- - ---- ---------

The AMA was founded in 1986 by Pamela Spence.  It was taken over in 1992
by Susanne Price.  Susanne died in an auto accident in early 1996.  At
that point, Susanne was not only the president but the driving force. 
The AMA fell on hard times.  Two editions of the journal came out after
her death-- a memorial issue containing material that had already been
in preparation, and then an issue which was nothing less than an
embarrassment to the mead community (including some material that was
printed without permission). That was a year ago; nothing has been
published since.  There are some dark stories including severe financial
mis-dealings.  I don't want to be a gossip-monger, but if the AMA had
money in '96, and people kept subscribing, and the AMA didn't do
anything, and there's no money left, and there are suppliers who haven't
been paid, it is hard to avoid a judgment that there were severe
improprieties.

In mid-1997 an effort began to revive and re-start the AMA, by
transferring it to new hands.  Unfortunately, although the new group
acquired the organization, it acquired significant debts, very little
money, and worst of all, no information about the subscribers!

What is going on now?
- - ---- -- ----- -- ----

There are two people seriously working on resurrecting the AMA.  These
are Sarah Wanless and Andy LaMorte at Highlander Homebrew in Littleton,
CO.  I spoke Wednesday evening with Keith Wanless; Keith and Sarah own
the Highlander.  They ARE serious about getting a new organization
started.  Andy had contacted me in mid-'97, probably before he knew how
many problems he would inherit.  The new organization might not be
called the "American Mead Association" because of the liabilities
(legal, financial, emotional) of the old organization; it may be a new
organization formed under a different name.  But these people do
recognize the need for an organization which can provide information,
publish a journal, etc., about mead, and they're trying to make it
happen.  They've found some help--a potential publisher, a possibility
for a bit of financial help, and the like.

Let me add that I've tried the best I can to corroborate the saga in the
above paragraphs...I heard essentially the same details from half a
dozen different people in the local brew/mead community.  I believe it
to be accurate (perhaps understated on some counts), and in particular,
Andy, Sarah, Keith, and the Highlander are generally respected around
here.

What if you were a member?
- - ---- -- --- ---- - -------

As I mentioned, one of the worst problems they've got is that they have
been unable to get the list of subscribers.  Here's where you can help:
If you were a subscriber, please send your name, address, and
subscription status to:  highlander at csn.net.  If you received the last
edition of "Inside Mead", your subscription expiration is printed on the
mailing label above your name.  (Obviously that expiration is based on
an assumption of publication schedule that no longer holds, but if you
send it, it will give the new folks a way to calibrate what you're
owed.)  If you subscribed after the last issue and therefore never got
any journals, try to dig up the info of what you paid for and send that
along.  If you've got your check, a 1-yr subscription was $20; 2-yr was
$35.

If you know meadmakers who were also subscribers but don't get this
Digest or don't have email access, please help out by relaying their
subscription info to the address above.

Keith claims that they are going to try to honor the subscription
obligations.  (This requires more money than was left by the old AMA. 
They have some financial support but I gather than they could use more
up-front help there.)

[snip closing, folowing paragraph from a following post]

I forgot a significant matter about contacting the folks who are trying
to resurrect the AMA:  If you are a former subscriber and you send them
your subscription info, please use the Subject "AMA" when you send mail
to highlander at csn.net.
- ---
Mead-Lover's Digest                            mead-request at talisman.com
Dick Dunn, Digest Janitor                  Boulder County, Colorado  USA
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