Lisa Lamme Tells All

It's only a five minute walk from the Thomas Crane Public Library to 1241 Hancock Street in downtown Quincy. That's where Lisa Lamme operates The Gypsy Kitchen, a gourmet wine, food and cheese shop. But on Wednesday night you didn't even have to take that walk. Lisa came to the Library as the keynote speaker for the Friends of the Thomas Crane Public Library Social. My headline exaggerates; Lisa didn't tell "all," but she shared her years of struggle and dues-paying as a business woman, author, small business operator and culinary chemist. You cannot get venture capitalists to part with their capital without talking to a lot of them. You cannot concoct, perfect and manufacture a food product, not even a delectable hot sauce like "Gypsy Juice," without permission from a host of government bureaucrats. And don't try to publish a book, not even one as cool as The Gypsy Kitchen: Transform Almost Nothing Into Something Delicious With Not-So-Secret Ingredients, without mastering the computer. But the good news is, if you never, ever give up, and do "whatever it takes" for as long as it takes, you can make your dreams come true. The keys are in your hand. Lisa Lamme had a large audience eating out of her hand on Wednesday night. This was a great program. And of course Friends President Betty Molloy, Lisa herself, and I each made a pitch for renewing or initiating your membership in the Friends of the Thomas Crane Public Library.