STRAIGHTtalk: With Theo McCracken

Theo McCracken deals a hand of Cribbage at his Dead River Coffee Shop in Marquette, MI. (photo by Ron Caspi)

Marquette, MI – McCracken of Dead River Coffee takes time off from roasting coffee beans to reflect on coffee, family, life and death

Brian: When you were a boy, what did you want to be when you grew up?

Theo: I wanted a job where I worked with my hands. Maybe a mechanic or an electrician. I was never really clear on that but I knew I liked making things. There’s something about producing a tangible product because you’re responsible for yourself, you’re responsible for your craft.

Brian: Did you go through a hippie phase in your adolescence or your young adulthood?

Theo: Not really. I joined the military right after high school but I went through a rebellious phase for sure. I got into motorcycles, alcohol, drugs. Marijuana. I guess I’ve tried a whole lot of things but they never really appealed to me. I had an older brother who was an addict and that was a cautionary tale.

Brian: What about your attraction to coffee? How did that start?

Theo McCracken deals a hand of Cribbage at his Dead River Coffee Shop in Marquette, MI. (photo by Ron Caspi)

Theo: I think it’s universal in American society but I do remember my first cup of good coffee. It was a cup of Guatemalan coffee that I had in a little café in Cleveland, Ohio where I later learned to roast coffee. That was probably in 1977. That’s when the light went on. It was startling for me to realize that something that I thought I enjoyed could actually be so much better than what I was enjoying. About a year later, after I lost my job at a restaurant, I walked over to the coffee shop and told the owner, “You know, I’m out of work,” and he said, “I’ll give you a job,” and I went to work. I started learning how to roast coffee. That’s when I realized this was what I really wanted to do.

Brian: But you didn’t open up your own coffee shop until you came up here to Marquette in 2000. Why did it take so long?

Theo: Well, I had children, and beginning a new business is a risky venture. The idea that you’re not going to be able to afford health insurance or nice things for your kids is a hard decision. This was my dream, this was what I want to do, but what was I willing to lay on the line? What was my partner willing to lay on the line? That was the issue that was holding me back.

Brian: What about your personal life? Has it been complicated?

Theo: (laughs) It’s getting simpler. I think as I age I’m more willing to accept the vagaries of life. I think I expect less of other people.

Brian: Were you a good husband and father?

Theo: Probably not as good of a husband and father as I would have liked to have been, but given the time and situation, I think I did pretty well.

Brian: Are you political at all?

Theo stands waits patiently as he roasts a batch of coffee beans. (photo by Ron Caspi)

Theo: Not really, but I wouldn’t say I’m apolitical. I just care a lot more about the person than that person’s politics. The idea that I would subscribe to a party platform or some agenda that’s put forward, I think, is an arrogant stance. Either I trust the person to make judgments for me, or I don’t, and that’s how I vote.

Brian: How do you feel about an issue like abortion?

Theo: I think what goes on inside my body is what goes on inside my body. It’s not something that should be legislated, and that applies to what food I eat and what I think. I guess you’d say I have libertarian tendencies.

Brian: Let’s talk about Marquette. What, in your mind, is the appeal of Marquette?

Theo: It’s a cosmopolitan town. There’s a lot going on here. There’s a pretty good standard of living. The town is not so big as to be cumbersome. You can really walk anywhere you need to walk. It’s a friendly town for the most part. It’s interesting, my oldest son was home-schooled. He would wander the streets at night here and I remember him talking about going to the Cathedral late at night and being stopped by the police. You know, he was a 16 year old boy walking the streets, two o’clock in the morning, and they’d say, “Where are you going?” And he would say, “I’m going up to the Cathedral to talk to the fathers,” and they’d say “Okay.” But when I lived in the South, they wanted to see seven forms of ID from me, where I had been, who my parents were. Up here, you just say you’re going to see the fathers at the Cathedral, and they’re fine with that.

Brian: Do you see any threats on the horizon to what we have here?

Theo: Growth will certainly jeopardize the small town nature of Marquette. Outsiders will change it. You and I are both outsiders, for instance, and we bring in outside ideas, we bring in different values. I don’t think it’s good or bad, it’s just a fact of life. We don’t have a lot of industry up here so we turn to tourism, and as a result we sell off big chunks of who we are to appeal to an outside group. Is that good or bad? I don’t know. I do know it’s good for my business. I just talked to some folks from the Twin Cities, and they came here, they said, just for my coffee. I like that.

You can expect a good cup of coffee as well as good conversation with Theo at the Dead River Coffee Shop.

Brian: If you could live your life over again, is there anything you would change?

Theo: I don’t know. I’m pretty happy. I don’t think I would. There are things I wish I had been better at, there are things I wish I could have done, but I like where I am and I like the people I’m surrounded by .

Brian: Are you afraid of death?

Theo: No, I’m not afraid of death although it’s not something I look forward to. What lies beyond is not something I ask myself. I was raised Fundamentalist but in my early teens, I came to the conclusion that the whole question of God is irrelevant. On one hand, scientifically it’s kind of a ridiculous thing to believe. On the other hand, I am going to be here (after death). I have touched on I don’t know how many thousands of lives. I would like to say that I’ve had some impact on the world. That should be enough.

Brian: Thank you, Theo.

by Brian Cabell

Brian Cabell is a writer and former TV journalist living in Marquette, Michigan. He's a northern California native who, after spending more than four decades traveling across the country and around the globe, has found a home on Lake Superior. He currently writes a popular weekly news blog, Word on the Street.

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