The Colorist
I, Bernie Harberts, did not use generative AI to write or illustrate this article. Spell check and grammar check, yes. AI, no.
He stepped out of a battered van and told me, “My first color was Play Boy Pink and we sold a 55 gallon drum of it to Hugh Heffner.”
He was a colorist. I’m a guy traveling with mules. People tell me all sorts of things. I just take them at their word. With all the words people pour in to my ears, making judgements is too much work.
The words poured out.
Him: “I also designed the gold color for Michelob Gold. And the orange for Black and Decker. And the white on the Budweiser can. And I did Coke red – the old Coke.”
Me: “Wow”.
Him: “The last year I worked for the company I worked for, they made 350 million dollars off my paint.”
Me: “Wow”.
Him: “I live in my van with my dog at a campground. I have a lady friend back in Minnesota.”
We were standing in Tennessee.
The spread between his remarkable career and his battered van was wide.
He wore a purple shirt and that’s my favorite color and I just let his words soak in.
More on the North Carolina to Idaho ride.
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