Micheal Gates Gill is the son of New Yorker writer Brendan Gill and he was a creative director at J. Walter Thompson Advertising where he was employed for over 25 years.

Michael Gates Gill did something incredibly wrong, he got older…in some peoples eyes, his age made him replaceable at the agency he worked for. He probably was, younger people would work cheaper and would be able to manufacture ideas which increases profitability for his “old boss” who unceremoniously dismissed Mr Gill at the age of 54.

For 10 years or so, Michael Gates Gill, this son of privilege and esteem with a position in society and an education from Yale University tried to go forward with his own agency until finally his calls weren’t returned. People were tired of “Old Michael Gates Gill.” At his low point, Michael sat in a Starbucks, sipping on a Latte that he could barely afford and wondered what the hell had happened to his life. He was spiraling out of control and his mind was racing when a young lady asked him a simple question…”Do you want a job?”…surprising her and himself, Michael Gates Gill said “Yes” and filled out the application to work for Starbucks.

I just finished reading the book How Starbucks Saved My Life: A Son of Privilege Learns to Live Like Everyone Else and found myself nodding along in agreement with the words of how Starbucks allows those of us who have slipped through the cracks, either by our own undoing or at the hands of some other element to look at ourselves with self respect, confidence most importantly hope.

My name is Marty Daniels. I am a Stand Up Comedian and Voice Over Talent who is grateful to also be a partner at Starbucks in Grove City, OH.

“How Starbucks Saved My Life” is being made into a movie by Tom Hanks

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I love food. I love to eat great food, nothing fancy, necessarily but GOOD food…I want it to be flavorful, balanced and interesting. That could be a steak or salad or something really exotic. Just make it balanced.

I am a fan of the show “After Hours with Daniel”. Daniel is Chef-Owner-Author Daniel Boulud who is probably best known as Executive Chef at Le Cirque in NYC. The idea of the show is an after hours conversation with chefs, food critics, restaurateurs and celebrities. For someone like me…AWESOME!

The most recent episode I watched was Episode 1 of Season 2. Taped in Los Angeles at Pizzeria Mozza in L.A. which is the creation of Nancy Silverton, Mario Batali and Joseph Bastianich. INCREDIBLE stuff they are doing there including the creation of a Mozzarella Bar, sort of like a Sushi Bar but with exotic servings of Mozzarella…when I get to L.A. it will be one of my first stops. Guests on this episode included Chef Nancy Silverton, Chef Alain Giraud, Chef Hiro Sone, Restaurateur Lissa Doumani, Actor Josh Charles, Actor-Comedian Ray Romono and Comedian-Author-Producer Phil Rosenthal. What a perfect balance of Food, Comedy, Showbiz and conversation. At one point in the conversation, Phil Rosenthal was describing his passion for food and wondered why he wouldn’t be better at preparing food since he loves it so much. He also explained the motivation behind his love of food. Turns out his mother was a horrible cook and when he moved out of the house, he was able to taste what he had been missing.

Phil Rosenthal has written a book called “YOU’RE LUCKY YOU’RE FUNNY” which I have designs on reading very soon. In fact, one of the great things about livig in Columbus is that we have a great library system and I reserved my copy of “YOU’RE LUCKY YOU’RE FUNNY” to be picked up at the Main Library in the morning!

Phil also directed and co-wrote a really funny piece for the closing days of the Clinton administration back in 2000. Odd to see how different life was pre-911.

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