Thursday, February 28, 2008

192. A Latte for Dan Hughes

I love Coffee Care. I loved it when it opened in the heart of Garapan in a tiny space and had old copies from the 1950's of Life Magazines available for browsing. I've moved with it to its new locations and styles, even adapting to the television over the counter. The coffee is always fresh and the food delicious. The laid-back atmosphere that combines a taste for the best-in coffee, in food, in thought-provoking reading and discussion--with comfort and relaxation is due to the personal touch of its founder and long-time owner, Dan Hughes. When he sold the business and moved to Thailand, his legacy lived on here with Coffee Care still in business, its patrons having adopted Dan's sensibilities and tastes.

This is my small tribute to Dan Hughes. He was living in Thailand, where he was killed by a motorist while waiting at a stoplight (according to the news from Dan MacMeekin).

Lots of love and a special latte for you Dan.

7 comments:

KAP said...

Well said. I thought about posting something, but figured I'd get maudlin.

Saipan Writer said...

I went to Coffee Care last night. Hugs and tears all around. I'm not too far from the maudlin myself.

annedy ♥ said...

hi, for some reason i have this feeling that we knew each other. maybe i served you lots of coffees back then. :)

i worked at coffee care for ten years... dan was like a second father to me, and i owe him a lot. hearing about his sudden death was heartbreaking for me... just can't help but feel sad and bad about it.

may he rest in peace.

Saipan Writer said...

I'm sure you did. You wouldn't recognize me now, though. (Age, weight-gain, gray hair--all a disguise to my true self!)

Anonymous said...

I was a Coffee Care groupie for years in all three locations! Spent many a night doing Quality assurance on wine with Dan. Great person!
He will be missed.

Tony

discoverybay said...

Dan and I were friends in the Marshall Islands in the early 1980s where he taught English..as well as teaching ESL in Japan. He last visited me in 1985 or so when he took off to start a coffee company in Saipan. I had not heard from him since but in the last 2 weeks unexplicably began thinking about him and googled him tonight. Very shocked and saddened to hear what happened. He was an avid cyclist and backgammon player and friend.

Saipan Writer said...

My condolences, discoverybay. We love our friends, even if we aren't in close contact. I'm sorry you had to find out on-line and not from some live person who could share your grief.

So have a latte for Dan...