"We went there for everything we needed. We went there when thirsty, of course, and when hungry, and when tired. We went there when happy, to celebrate, and when sad, to sulk...We went there when we didn't know what we needed, hoping someone might tell us...Most of all we went there when we needed to be found.

Along with sancutuary, Steve provided nightly lessons in democracy, or the special plurality of alcohol. Standing in the middle of his barroom, you could watch men and women from all strata of society and education abusing another. You could hear the poorest man in town discussing "market volatility" with the president of the New York Stock Exchange, or the local librarian lecturing a New York Yankees Hall of Famer about the wisdom of choking up on the bat. You could hear a feebleminded porter say something so off-the-wall, and yet so wise, that a college philospohy professor would jot it on a napkin and tuck it in his pocket...you could hear bartenders -- in between making bets and mixing Pink Squirrels -- talk like philospher kings."

JR Moehringer, "The Tender Bar"