About 2 months ago I bought a nectarine at Raaaaandallll’s* grocery store here in Austin, and it was absolutely the most delicious nectarine I had tasted in my whole life. Writing thank-you notes is in my blood (Mom is from the deep South), and I knew that whoever grew something as good as that nectarine could not go un-thanked.
I had a bit of difficulty tracking down an address because the company (Red Lion - “The King of Nectarines”) doesn’t have a website, and I couldn’t find the name of the CEO anywhere online. However, I did stumble upon the name and address of the man that patented the nectarine tree used by Red Lion growers. He did the hard part, anyway.
So, I sent a letter off to Lionel Serimian in California thanking him for all his work, and didn’t hear anything back… Until this morning at 9:30 when Ryan Cabrera knocked on my door with a box of 30 nectarines that had accidently been delivered to his cabin (actually it was my neighbor, Justin, who has the same hair).
Inside was a hand-written note from Lionel’s kids thanking me for my letter, and saying how much their dad would have appreciated it (they went on to say that Lionel died 2 years ago). Those Serimians are some generous folks.
R.I.P. Nectarine King.
*Sidenote— If you want to try them, I’ve seen Red Lion Nectarines for sale at Randall’s in Austin, and Dominick’s in Chicago. EAT ‘EM UP.
