Fernando Santiago on Radio Show of November 8, 2022

[admin]

Our featured interview on tonight's Pipes Magazine Radio Show is with Fernando Santiago. Fernando is a collector of predominantly Leeds-era Ben Wade pipes along with seconds brands, pipe catalogues and price lists. His collection also includes cigar and cigarette holders and match vesta cases, boxes, pipe sleeves and pamphlets. He has also collected print matter including a company history and advertising. As if that's not enough, he has also conducted interviews (to the extent possible) with the living descendants of Ben Wade and children of the final proprietors of the company before its sale to Hermann Lane. In Pipe Parts, we have a large mailbag to get caught up on that includes some pipe smoking 101 refreshers.

The show airs every Tuesday at 8:00pm eastern US time, and can be found at PipesMagazine.com and all podcast apps.

 

[greeneyes]

Thanks for the introduction, Kevin, and for the interview Brian!

I must say I've never heard of "UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in the areas of Good Health and Well-Being, Affordable and Clean Energy, Sustainable Cites and Communities, Life Below Water, along with Peace Justice and Strong Institutions" though. Sounds like something nice to have on a resumé though so perhaps I ought to keep it!

 

[jguss]

I must say I've never heard of "UN’s Sustainable Development Goals in the areas of Good Health and Well-Being, Affordable and Clean Energy, Sustainable Cites and Communities, Life Below Water, along with Peace Justice and Strong Institutions" though. Sounds like something nice to have on a resumé though so perhaps I ought to keep it!

You'd have to add another page or two to fit all that in. I think Kevin's referring to another Fernando Santiago who works in the Policy Research and Statistics Department of the UN Industrial Development Organization. Maybe you two should hang out? Form an extremely exclusive club?

 

[georged]

You'd have to add another page or two to fit all that in. I think Kevin's referring to another Fernando Santiago who works in the Policy Research and Statistics Department of the UN Industrial Development Organization. Maybe you two should hang out? Form an extremely exclusive club?

Much less confusing is to leave out the science-y stuff altogether (though Fernando does do his tobacco blending with a desktop laboratory a la Sherlock Holmes), and present him to the Briancast public as a consummate collector of late-19th through mid-20th century English pipes, especially the Ben Wade marque.

As in, a seriously hardcore historical researcher in addition to specimen gatherer-accumulator.

Think Venn diagram with heavy overlap between the "scientific brain" and "pipe lust" areas, and you'll pretty much have it.



As for that desktop lab, tobacco goes into the scary looking ball thing with the downward pointing snout, and emerges in liquid form in the beaker at upper left center the next day. How he reconstitutes the distillate into a smokably dry form after all the dissolving and mixing is a secret, but he assured me that this is where the taste magic happens:

 

[kcghost]

Yeah, there's no doubt our crowd has little interest if his science stuff.

 

[greeneyes]

As George very generously suggested, I am a collector of predominantly Leeds-era Ben Wade pipes. The shelf behind me in the photo has approximately 130 of them, including various rarities and seconds brands, pipe catalogues and price lists, cigar and cigarette holders and match vesta cases, boxes, pipe sleeves and pamphlets. I've also collected any print matter including a company history and advertising and conducted interviews (to the extent possible) with the living descendants of Ben Wade and children of the final proprietors of the company before its sale to Hermann Lane.

 

[karam]

Fernando’s a gent! Will look to listen to later if possible!

 

[renfield]

Brian,

Thanks for another great show. Fernando was an interesting guest and more proof that pipe smokers come from a really wide variety of backgrounds.

So far you haven’t had a guest who was bitten by a radioactive spider but if he’s out there I’m sure you’ll find him.

A big shout out for your holiday message. Depression and loneliness are sadly common and simply reaching out to those around us can mean far more than we might realize.

Cheers,
Renfield

 

[simong]

Good bloke, fernando. Knows his onions too.
I’m only surprised he can find time to smoke a pipe, let alone appear in a Hollywood style radio interview.
A hardworking & professional fellow, only matter of time before the title ‘Honorary Yorkshireman’ is bestowed upon him by the University of Leeds.

 

[sablebrush52]

Fernando is the real deal. A champion scrounger, who turns up finds that are marvelous and who is blazing a trail for Ben Wade fans. Those Leeds era pipes can be as good as any made by anyone.

 

[admin]

Color me embarrassed. I updated the text with the correct info on all posts. The podcast apps should update later in the day. Sorry about that.

Brian and I were both getting on a plane the next morning. I didn't have time to listen to the interview, and Brian didn't have time to give me any info. The guy I found was the only Fernando Santiago on the entire internet, so I was sure I had it.

 

[greeneyes]

Good bloke, fernando. Knows his onions too.
I’m only surprised he can find time to smoke a pipe, let alone appear in a Hollywood style radio interview.
A hardworking & professional fellow, only matter of time before the title ‘Honorary Yorkshireman’ is bestowed upon him by the University of Leeds.

Absolutely, my friend! It's been a rather insane several months with looming deadlines and a dash of COVID to boot! Still trying to get my nose back for some of the more gentle Virginias, though the stronger tobaccos are still shining through.

When there's not much but rocks and hard places around it's that I truly count myself blessed to have friends as kind, thoughtful and interesting as you lot to make the long days bearable.