Kodner and Grayson
Kodner and Grayson
St. Louis Business Journal · Mark Vittert · December 15, 2002
In a 2002 column, Mark Vittert told the story of gallery founder Martin Kodner and a Christmas country ham. Martin read Vittert's praise of Grayson's Bar-B-Que in Clarence, and of its closely guarded holiday ham list, and asked to be added. He was a devoted judge of barbecue who kept his own file on the best places in the country. Mr. Grayson obliged, and wouldn't take payment up front: "There'll be a bill with the ham, just send the money when you can."
That was how Martin had run his own galleries for decades. In thanks, he sent Mr. Grayson a framed poster of St. Louis around 1900, expecting nothing in return. Vittert only learned of it by chance, sitting at Grayson's counter months after Martin's death in May 2002. As Jonathan Kodner told him, it was his father's way of showing respect for a man who trusted people the way he did.
Read the full column at the St. Louis Business Journal →
In a 2002 column, Mark Vittert told the story of gallery founder Martin Kodner and a Christmas country ham. Martin read Vittert's praise of Grayson's Bar-B-Que in Clarence, and of its closely guarded holiday ham list, and asked to be added. He was a devoted judge of barbecue who kept his own file on the best places in the country. Mr. Grayson obliged, and wouldn't take payment up front: "There'll be a bill with the ham, just send the money when you can."
That was how Martin had run his own galleries for decades. In thanks, he sent Mr. Grayson a framed poster of St. Louis around 1900, expecting nothing in return. Vittert only learned of it by chance, sitting at Grayson's counter months after Martin's death in May 2002. As Jonathan Kodner told him, it was his father's way of showing respect for a man who trusted people the way he did.
Read the full column at the St. Louis Business Journal →