Don Younger

I’ve spent many hours in pubs over the years.   It’s hard to say how many days and nights I’ve sacrificed to beer drinking and games such as darts, pool, and Monopoly.   If I had to name my top 3 pubs of all time, based on how much fun I had there, I think it would look like this…

1.       Horse Brass – Portland, OR

2.       Atomic Billiards – Washington, DC

3.       Rose and Raindrop, Portland OR

I’ve spent so many hours in the Horse Brass playing darts and drinking micro-brews I can’t even begin to count them.   I’ve eaten scores of bangers and scotch eggs.   I’ve must have had the fish and chips at least 50 times.   I’ve surely drank enough pints of beer there to float a very large boat.   Many of the times I was in there,  I saw the owner sitting at the bar.  He was a crazy looking guy, thin with wild gray hair, named Don Younger.  I remember one time he was sitting pretty close and someone I was with said something negative about their food.  

I loudly said, “You should complain to the owner!”

Don turned and said, “Nah.  That guy wouldn’t care!”

Don took over the Horse Brass in 1976 and turned it into what it is today.    He also created the Rose and Raindrop, #3 on my list, in the mid-1990s.  It’s funny that the same guy would own two spots in my top three.

Don Younger passed away yesterday at the age of 69.  How many memories do I have that he is, at least in part, responsible for?   I’m not sure, but it’s a lot.

Rest in peace, Don.