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So who is on my list? Well, I am very thankful for all the tea growers and producers who have made my book possible.

 So much has changed in the twenty years that I have been in the tea business. Back then, the big boy producers had dumbed-down the business. There was only terrible tea in teabags, and a few brave (or crazy) people that sold tiny amounts of loose tea. My father, John, was one of those fools. When I joined him, he had about 6 teas: Earl Grey, English Breakfast, Darjeeling, Orange Pekoe, Lapsang Souchong and a token green: Gunpowder. At that time the Lapsang and the Gunpowder were not even from Mainland China, but rather were imitations from Taiwan. Teas were just starting to come from Mainland China.

Now there is so much choice. In my book, "Harney & Sons Guide to Tea", I list 56 teas to offer a great variety of flavors. It could have been three times that number. However 56 is a good start to celebrate the great artisanal teas available today. Enough to show the wide variety tea flavors from the best gardens of Asia, but not enough to numb the senses.  Your choices include: white teas from Sri Lanka and China, green teas from China and Japan, oolongs from China and Taiwan, and black teas from the Chinese Tradition and the British Legacy countries ( India& Sri Lanka).

This week, I look forward helping you explore and enjoy these teas. Please contact me with any questions: michael@harneyteas.com.

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Obama: The Historic Journey, A new groundbreaking book covering Barack Obama's life from childhood through his inauguration as the 44^th President of the United States, to be published by Callaway Arts & Entertainment and The New York Times in collaboration with Riverhead Books on Presidents' Day 2009

NEW  YORK, December 22, 2008 - OBAMA: The Historic Journey, a new groundbreaking, beautifully written and illustrated book covering Barack Obama's life, from his childhood through his inauguration as the 44^th president of the United States, will be  published in hardcover on Presidents' Day, Feb. 16, 2009, by Callaway Arts & Entertainment and The New York Times and distributed by Riverhead Books, an imprint of Penguin Group (USA), it was announced today by Riverhead Books Vice President and Publisher Geoffrey Kloske and Nicholas Callaway, founder and publisher of Callaway Arts & Entertainment. North American rights were acquired from Scott Moyers of The Wylie Agency.

he election of Barack Obama marked an unprecedented step forward in American history, shattering racial barriers and forever altering the political landscape. The New York Times, winner of 96 Pulitzer Prizes, has chronicled the exceptional moments of Mr. Obama's life, from when he was first elected president of the Harvard Law Review in 1990, to his memorable speech at the 2004 Democratic Convention, his campaign for the presidency and his jubilant victory.

When UK-based novelist Stephen Foster first published his funny and decidedly unsentimental memoir  Walking Ollie (published in the US by Perigee in July 2008), he never imagined that just a year later he would be saying goodbye to Ollie, the quirky, neurotic shelter dog who had become his best friend. But last month, after the UK publication of the book's sequel, Along Came Dylan (to be published by Perigee next June, under the title Fetching Dylan), that's just what he had to do. It was hard to believe: The skittish pup who feared shopping bags, house flies, and the apron hanging from the back of the kitchen door -- and whose story had introduced Stephen to the British bestseller lists -- was suddenly gone.

The London Times recently ran an essay by Stephen describing the difficult goodbye. Dog lovers along with anyone who has had to cope with the loss of a dear friend will appreciate this sweet, sad story well told. Ollie may be gone, but to readers on both sides of the Atlantic who knew him, he won't be forgotten.

In honor of Ollie, Perigee will include a new afterword to Fetching Dylan, noting the passing of the dysfunctional yet irresistible creature who domesticated a first-time dog owner and changed his life forever. Check the Penguin USA web site in April 2009 for more information about Fetching Dylan and Stephen Foster.

Posted by: Marian Lizzi, Editor-in-Chief, Perigee Books