Francis Lewis Gould (1884-1979)

He was born in New York, grew up at his maternal grandfather's house in Yonkers, and graduated from New York University in 1905. He served in the New York National Guard during World War I before going into investment banking. He became Vice-President of R. W. Halsey & Co. and President of the Distributors Guild Inc. On retiring in 1932 ('retiring' almost certainly being a result of the Wall Street Crash and the Great Depression of the 30s), he worked in Boston as a wine consultant and importer. In 1949, he founded the Public Relations program of the Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena, California, and edited its newsletter, Bottles and Bins. He was a noted bon vivant whose energy almost single-handedly created the Napa Valley Wine Library. According to M.F.K. Fisher, he was, "an almost legendary authority on wine judging and tasting [and] has probably sat at more good tables and shared more fine bottles than most men alive". In 1972, he published his autobiography, My Life with Wine. In 1948, he married Romilda "Romie" Peri (1904-1999), and they lived between Switzerland and St. Helena. After his death, Romie published two books about their lives: Con Brio: Romie & Paco (1989) and Paco! The World and Work of Francis Lewis Gould (1993).