In Memory of: Peter GW Keen 1941-2021
Peter GW Keen, resident tea expert and correspondent at STiR coffee and tea magazine passed away in late October. STiR magazine was proud to have Peter as its tea report editor, supplying insight and knowledge on all aspects of tea, from sources and sourcing, to manufacturing and packing, to retailing and selling. He was also contributing editor for Tea Journey magazine.
After getting his MBA and PhD at Harvard Business School, he became a professor, a noted international consultant, and a public speaker. According to his Amazon.com he has authored “50 books in 50 years” business, information technology, innovation, and tea and was a professor at a number of business and technological universities, including Harvard, MIT, and Stanford.
In recent years, he focused his writing on what he called his avocation: tea – its history, cultivation, science, and the pleasure of drinking it. He wrote three books about tea, most recently in 2018 his “Heroines of Tea” on women who left a thumbprint in tea going back to the Middle Ages.
Peter was born in Singapore in 1941 and grew up in Reading, UK; he lived most of his adult life in the US but kept his UK citizenship, as he always felt like a Brit.
He was a writer, an academic, a thinker, and a teacher. He studied English literature at Balliol College, Oxford; a love of books and words endured throughout his life. He was a voracious reader, passionate about Shakespeare, and had an incredible vocabulary, which came in handy in Boggle matches with his daughter. He recently discovered the New York Times Spelling Bee and wouldn’t go to bed without getting to Genius.
He was 79 when he passed on Oct. 26.
Peter was married to his wife, Sherry, for more than 25 years, after a chance meeting on an airplane. They loved to travel together, visiting six continents and more than 20 countries, and shared a love of animals.
He is survived by his daughter, Sara Keen of Cambridge, MA; his son, Chris Keen of Dublin, Ireland; and his son-in-law, Joaquin Figueroa, of Dublin, Ireland. He was predeceased by his daughter, Lucy. He is also survived by his sisters Patti Budd of the UK, Jenny Bigger of Texas, and Judy Covert of Florida. He will be greatly missed by his father-in-law Bill Richardson and his wife Peggy.
Donations can be made in his name to the Cancer Research Institute, or Bat Conservation & Rescue of Virginia, a favorite organization of his.
A celebration of life is being planned in the spring.