Starbucks Co-Founder Gordon Bowker Dies at 82

Gordon Bowker, the writer turned entrepreneur who co founded Starbucks in 1971 and helped set the course for the specialty coffee movement in Seattle and beyond, died last week at the age of 82.

According to a remembrance from the Seattle Times and numerous other sources, Bowker was born in Oakland, California. When Bowker was just three months old, his father died serving in World War II. His mother then moved the family to the Seattle area (Ballard) to live with her parents.

As an adult working as a writer and editor at the original Seattle magazine, among other writing pursuits Bowker teamed up with his friends Jerry Baldwin and Zev Siegl in numerous creative partnerships, including writing a screenplay and making pre-recorded radio broadcasts.

Eventually, the three men decided to launch a coffee business, opening the first Starbucks store near Seattle’s Pike Place Market in March of 1971 long before the company became associated with chain stores or espresso drinks selling coffee beans and equipment.

“Gordon was beyond creative, he was an original, someone who had an innate sense of what was coming next,” Baldwin told Daily Coffee News this week. “His instinct produced both what he might like to see as well as what others would value like good beer and good coffee.”

“Starbucks Seattle PikePlace 1912,” photo by SilentDeath, CC BY SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Exterior of the Pike Place Starbucks at 1912 Pike Place the storefront commonly referred to as the “Original Starbucks.” (Note: this is the second address for the first store; the original 1971 location was at 2000 Western Ave.)

According to Starbucks lore, Bowker and friend Terry Heckler, who were partners in an advertising firm, came up with the Starbucks name after batting around words beginning with “St” then seeing the name “Starbo” on an old mining map. For Bowker, the name recalled the Starbuck character in the novel Moby Dick. From there, the brand name and siren/nautical imagery were born.

Bowker, Baldwin and Siegl each got a professional education through apprenticeships with Alfred Peet the founder of Peet’s Coffee in Berkeley, California while Peet supplied Starbucks with coffee in the early days.

In the mid 1980s, Bowker and Baldwin led two pivotal transactions: Starbucks bought Peet’s Coffee & Tea in 1984, and in 1987 they sold Starbucks to a group led by Howard Schultz. To this day, Schultz is often referred to as the founder of Starbucks, though he first joined the company in 1982.

After exiting Starbucks, Bowker would later serve on Peet’s board for more than a decade.

Beyond coffee, Bowker co founded Redhook Ale Brewery in 1981, helping spur the early craft beer movement in the U.S. Additionally, through his advertising firm Heckler Bowker, he helped create the iconic Rainier Beer campaigns. Bowker was also an instrumental figure in the launch of Seattle Weekly.

Bowker is being remembered as an energetic entrepreneur who relished good company, good music and new ideas, while remaining a keen and insightful observer.

“He had an innate ability to sense what was next, and he was highly articulate and analytical,” Baldwin told DCN. “We learned to pay attention.”