Sunday, April 17, 2016

Daydreaming about Pamplona, San Fermin, and so many good things to drink.

I am fortunate to have coincided with the Festival of San Fermin in Pamplona, Spain, on four separate occasions. It seems impossible, but the last time was in 2000.

If memory serves, my cousin Don has attended the fest for 22 consecutive years, becoming a dependable member of the recurring international legation, a band of non-native brothers and sisters who have become immersed in the bulls and the city that celebrates them.

Earlier today, Don provided an update on the recent passing of one of the senior fest-goers, whom I met briefly in the 1990s: David "Big Dave" Pierce, which is an easy name for me to remember owing to my friendship with brewmaster David Pierce of BBC. "Big Dave" also was the nickname of a high school basketball teammate.


SANFER-MEANDERINGS, We’ll Always Have Pamplona, by Tim Pinks (San Fermin Dot Com)

Not a Duke, or a King, but most definitely ‘un Grande,’ and from what I understand, also, in the nicest possible way…a Clown. A Joker. A fiesta jester. I didn’t know the fella but many, many people did, and I like to mention these Sanfermineros as and when they slip off to that great fiesta in the sky… And so it has come to pass that one David Milton Pierce has left this Earth to join his old amigos up there in those Celestial San Fermines.


Over the years, I've written several pieces about San Fermin. Most have been published at NA Confidential, so here are links to seven of them. Novelist Ray Mouton has authored books on Pamplona and San Fermin, and the image of the bullfighter Manolete is by Warren Parker.


Catching up with writer Ray Mouton, his novel, and the Catholic Church's pedophilia scandal.



Photos of the Running of the Bulls, 2015.



ON THE AVENUES REWOUND: Red scarf, white shirt and San Miguel beer (2012).



On the Way of St. James, and a film depicting it.



Rest in peace, Sexy Rexy.



The art of Warren Parker.



It didn't happen at the Public House, but maybe it should.


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