Fireside Chat with Lionel Melendi

On October 21, 2019, I had visited my parents Lionel and Karelia Melendi at their home in Vermont. When I arrived at their house, we started to have a conversation about the past. As the day grew into night, the conversations lead us down memory lane — these stories centered around the premium cigar industry. You see, my father was very influential in the New York City tobacconist movement starting back in the early 1960s and progressing into the mid-2000s. 

My father was not the only Melendi to influence the premium cigar business. My grandfather, Jose Melendi, was very influential when it came to Cameroon wrapper and opening the first government-backed cigar factory in Esteli Nicaragua. It became apparent after some time that I needed to interview my father and get the stories out and into the public. I needed to do this before these conversations were lost to history, and that was not acceptable. So I'm proud to present to you the interview that took 51 years to make. I am honored and humbled to have been a part of this special day in Vermont in mid-October of 2019.

Without any further ado, I present to you: Fireside Chat with my father,  Lionel Melendi, and The Cigar Purveyor, aka Ron Melendi.