Who We Are
The co-founders of TrueCue.org are Dan Levine ("Chief Smoke Detector") and John Shelton Reed ("Eminence Grease"). Dan is best known in the barbecue blogosphere as Porky LeSwine, the author of the nearly famous but now defunct, or more kindly stated, retired BBQJew.com website. John is himself retired (but not defunct) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and is co-author (with his late wife Dale Volberg Reed and William McKinney) of Holy Smoke: The Big Book of North Carolina Barbecue. John’s latest book is On Barbecue. Both Dan and John have judged barbecue competitions and eaten countless barbecue meals across the country, as well as more faux ‘cue than they care to recall.
Fellow travelers in the Campaign for Real Barbecue include our Regional Smoke Detectors, who are responsible for overseeing True 'Cue certifications in their area. These good folks include:
Georgia Regional Smoke Detector James "Trae" Welborn, associate professor of history at Georgia College & State University and co-founder, along with Craig S. Pascoe, of the of the Georgia BBQ Trails website.
Georgia Regional Smoke Detector Emeritus Craig S. Pascoe, a retired professor at Georgia College & State University and co-founder, along with James "Trae" Welborn, of the Georgia BBQ Trails website.
Kentucky Regional Smoke Detector Wes "Heatmeister" Berry, a professor at Western Kentucky University and the author of The Kentucky Barbecue Book. Wes first joined the Campaign as a Patron.
South Carolina Regional Smoke Detectors Jim Roller and Lake High. Jim is a Patron of the Campaign, a barbecue blogger, and the author of Going Whole Hog. Lake originally joined the Campaign as a Patron and is president of the South Carolina Barbeque Association and author of A History of South Carolina Barbeque.
Virginia/DC Metro Regional Smoke Detector John Tanner, who documents “one man’s search for good barbecue with extraneous commentary” at John Tanner’s Barbecue Blog.
See your state missing? Drop us a note and tell us why you want to be involved.
True 'Cue News
We used to publish a semi-regular, semi-interesting newsletter until everyone else started sharing all the news we had and more (good on you!). Read 'em and (if you are so moved) weep:
Credits
A photo credit goes to Holly Moore of HollyEats.com who let us use his firebox picture as our logo.
Sarah Greene Reed designed our website.
Those who missed the reference to The Campaign for Real Ale might wish to check it out.
Press Coverage
They say there's no such thing as bad publicity, and at the Campaign for Real Barbecue we will take any we can get. Here's some of the press coverage we've received to date:
"In Defense of the True 'Cue," in The New Yorker magazine.
"'Cue'-sade: the campaign for real barbecue," an Associated Press video on the USA Today website and here.
“True North Carolina barbecue is hurting. Would a state law help?”, in Longleaf Politics (link broken).
“The Campaign for Real Barbecue continues", in The Smoke Sheet.
"Two Tar Heels issue the true 'cue challenge," in the News & Observer.
"The Campaign for Real Barbecue" at zenbbq.com
"Campaign for Real Barbecue lists many Davidson County restaurants," in the Lexington Dispatch.
“For Chatham’s Reed, barbecue is more than a good-tasting passion,” in the Chatham News + Record.
"Ambassadors of smoke," in The Christian Science Monitor.
“Whole-hog barbecue is making its way to Texas,” in the Houston Chronicle.
"Crusading to honor, preserve 'real rarbecue,'" in The Herald-Sun
"True 'Cue: A Campaign for Real Barbecue" at tmbbq.com (Texas Monthly's BBQ blog)
"Digest: True 'Cue" at roadfood.com
"New Barbecue Campaign Supports Cooking over Wood," in the Charlotte Observer
For press inquiries, please contact us at truecue@gmail.com.