A Legend Now Lost

It’s with a heavy heart I am here to inform our readers that we lost a a great man and a wonderful leader Alan “Cigar Savant” Friedman. Alan was not only a primary source of knowledge in the the cigar world, he was also our friend. He opened his heart, his mind, and his home to those who knew him. I had the pleasure of meeting Alan at one of the first Tweetup Events in Chattanooga TN. Tweetup was an event disguised to use social media to bring the cigar community together. Alan was part of a professional cigar talk show called Cigar Guys Radio based out of Atlanta and broadcast on ESPN radio. At this event Alan was running an open floor contest where those with the most right answers would win a prize. I championed one of the contests and won a box of AJ Ferneandez Encalve Salamone’s. Alan wasn’t just running a contest he wanted to get the people thinking about our passions...cigars and community.

My little enteraouge of me, Mark Jr, Sr., and a couple others including Jerry and Darlene Garrett made friends with Alan and eventually Alan invited us to his own WoodStock Tweetup at his house. It was mostly just an excuse to come by his house and have burgers, cigars, drinks, and good times. He had a beautiful home in Atlanta and it was a pleasure to share our experiences and knowledge with someone who has years in multiple avenues in the cigar world, but he was much more than that. He and his wife Marli are the salt of the earth, and to lose a man of his caliber is a gap in humanity. GodSpeed Alan, we will miss you.