UPDATE: I’m the very first one, according to this followup email:
As I think Jackie Nelson has already told you, you are the first-ever Yalie of the Week on our website. (I do hope you view this as a blessing rather than a curse.) We’ve admired your work, and have had you on our copious list for the print magazine, for quite some time. We’re bound to come to you for the print magazine one day soon, but meanwhile, this seemed a good way to start.
That’s awfully nice. Though not nice enough to make up for the news that the Yankee Doodle Diner has closed!
ANOTHER UPDATE: Prof. Kenneth Mayer is one of many who’s sad to hear about the Doodle:
Glenn: I was in grad school at Yale in the 80s, and frequented the Doodle. It was cheap, fast, and good: two eggs over easy, hash browns, a muffin, probably $3. The guy who ran it was fast, and I can still picture him scrambling a couple of eggs in a steel bowl using forks. He was old school. I’m sad to hear the news that it’s closing but it did bring up some fond memories.
Yeah, I stole his fork-scrambling technique, though I’ve never achieved his speed.
MORE: Lots more emails, including this from Cormac Kehoe:
In the fall of ’89 I was a broke student too proud to ask my (somewhat struggling) parents for money. At that time, Doodle regulars could occasionally “put it up,†i.e., run a tab. Lew, the owner, floated me at the Doodle for over a month, a tab that neared $200. Never once was I asked to pay up – they just trusted that I would. And I did, plus a big tip for the interest equivalent. I have never forgotten the kindness and never will. Great place, great people, great food. My favorites: ham and egg on a roll, cheeseburger with an egg on top, and the decadent fried doughnut with butter!
Nice story.