John Thornton is not simply the head of sales and marketing for Eden’s Gate Cigars of Cocoa Beach, Florida – distributor of Reyes’s Adan y Eva brand among others – but also the father of a U.S. Navy Chief Warrant Officer who is serving with an Explosives Ordnance Disposal (EOD) unit in Iraq.

As cigars are one of the most-requested “non-essential” items by soldiers posted in Iraq, Reyes’s donation will undoubtedly be welcomed. The new Patriot line sports a red, white and blue band and comes in three popular sizes (Robusto, Piramide and Churchill) and in a choice of three different wrappers (Ecuadorian-grown Connecticut-seed, Cameroon and Nicaraguan-grown Habana 2000).

In addition, the cigars are being offered for sale to the public via the Eden’s Gate Web site, with 50 percent of all proceeds donated to a fund supporting families of those who have been injured or killed in Special Forces or EOD activities in Iraq. All shapes are offered in boxes of 25 with retail pricing from $4-7 depending on shape, not including local sales or tobacco taxes.

The story behind the famous Churchill portrait:
A new book on the life of famed Canadian portrait photographer Yousuf Karsh – Portrait in Light and Shadow: The Life of Yousuf Karsh – explains in detail the famous portrait he took of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill in 1941.

Churchill was in North America in December of 1941 primarily for meetings for U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt after the U.S. entered World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7.

On December 30, Churchill addressed the Canadian Parliament and, according to the new book by Maria Tippett, Karsh was set the photograph him after the speech. But Churchill was “grumpy” and wanted to continue smoking his cigar, even in the picture. Karsh is to have said “I don’t want to take another one of those damn cigar portraits,” and went up to Churchill and firmly but politely removed the cigar from his mouth!

Churchill, already seated for the portrait, simply scowled and Karsh captured the image, perhaps the best known of Churchill during the war period.

Churchill was reportedly impressed with Karsh’s boldness and told the photographer, “You can even make a roaring lion stand still to be photographed.” As it turned out, it was worth the trouble.
~ Rich Perelman

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