I started on Dickens at an early age, and I couldn't wait to start drinking ... porter, ale, brandy, sherry, port; there's a special kind of romance to those potations that can only come from long exposure to Dickens. I first tasted sherry at the home of a friend whose father traveled extensively in Europe and had an entire room stocked with every conceivable beverage under the sun. In fact, my nickname, ironically, was "Boz," (Dickens's pen name), and when visiting this particular friend, everyone used to vie in plying "Boz" with sherry.