Events

Hailing from Philadelphia and ultimately making his way to the mountains of Colorado in 1999, Lenny Eckstein maintained a 15-year career as a graphic artist. Working closely with such companies as Comcast, The Albuquerque BioPark, Dish Network, and Vail Resorts, Lenny enjoyed tremendous opportunities to create the visual aspects of numerous branding and marketing initiatives During the trailing few years of his design career a level of burn-out began to set in. More often than not the time pushing pixels in front of a computer screen competed for focus and passion with an out of control homebrewing (beer) habit. A constant drive to “make something” pushed his home brewing to the next level, and some small scale distillation efforts (not currently legal in the US) may have ensued. As a deep appreciation for whiskey production/consumption grew and the US craft spirits market began to emerge, thoughts turned toward what it might take to channel current skill sets and passions towards opening a micro-distillery in Buena Vista.

Lenny, along with his wife Amy, founded Deerhammer Distilling Company in 2010 with a mission to redefine the flavor and future of American whiskey. In the beginning, a 2,000 square foot building on Buena Vista's historic East Main Street was acquired, an old-world style distillery was built, and the first few drops of single malt whiskey ran from a 150-gallon direct fire copper pot still in January of 2012. In its present form, Deerhammer has scaled its whiskey production to meet the growing demands of the Colorado market and beyond. With the leadership of Lenny and Amy Eckstein along with the support of a tremendously devoted team, Deerhammer has emerged as one of Colorado’s premier craft whiskey brands. Their year-round portfolio of whiskeys currently consists of the flagship American single malt, bourbon, hickory smoked American whiskey, and a soon to be released rye whiskey.

Melanie Crowder is the acclaimed author of several books for young readers, including Audacity, Three Pennies, An Uninterrupted View of the Sky, A Nearer Moon and Parched, as well as the middle grade duology The Lighthouse Between the Worlds. 

Melanie’s books have been awarded the Jefferson Cup, the Arnold Adoff Poetry Award, the SCBWI Crystal Kite, and the Bulletin Blue Ribbon; they have been recognized as a National Jewish Book Awards Finalist, Colorado Book Awards Finalist, Junior Library Guild selection, YALSA Top Ten Books For Young Adults, ILA Notable Book for a Global Society, Parents’ Choice Silver Medal, BookBrowse Editor’s Choice, BookPage Top Pick, and The Washington Post Best Children’s Books for April. Her work has been listed as Best Books of the Year by Bank Street College, Kirkus Reviews, The Amelia Bloomer List, New York Public Library, Tablet Magazine, A Mighty Girl, and The Children’s Book Review.

The author lives under the big blue Colorado sky with a wife, two kids, and one good dog. Visit her online at www.melaniecro