RISING STAR

WHAT DOES STARBUCKS MEAN TO YOU? A grande latte, a study spot away from Lamont, a ubiquitous commercial chain? Probably not Moby Dick. But Melville was on the mind of Terry and Gordon, founding fathers of one of our nation's hallmarks.

The name Starbucks, referring to the first mate in Melville's leviathan novel, is meant to evoke the romance of the high seas and the seafaring tradition of the early coffee traders. So claims the recent paperback, Pour Your Heart Into It, written by the company's CEO. Starbucks connotes a product that is unique and mystical, yet purely American. Before reaching that purely American solution, however, the store was called II Giornale, a name which aficionados thought captured the romance of the authentic espresso experience. In the battle between romance of the high seas and romance of the authentic espresso, the high seas won. And the romance got lost.

Still another name prefigured our fellow Starbucks. Terry first opted for Pequod, after Melville's ship, but Gordon contested that no one would want to drink at the Pequod. Instead, Gordon wanted a title associated with his native Seattle and went hunting for names in Washington state mountains. He liked the sound of a turn-of-the-century coal mine by the name of Starbo, which reminded Terry's literary penchant of Starbuck. Melville would cringe at the association.

Far from the raging romantic, Melville's Starbuck was a prudent husband of sober Christian morals. He was the one mariner not afraid to confess his fear of whales, a problematic phobia on a whaling expedition. At the end of the book (sorry to give away those suspenseful 300 last pages), when the ship's captain ruthlessly pursues omnipotent Moby Dick, Starbuck contemplates mutiny. But, his respect for authority outweighs Starbuck's determination to return alive to wife and kids. He puts back the knife and ultimately drowns with the rest of the crew, while chasing the whale. Not quite the mystique that Terry and Gordon had in mind.

The only mention of food in relation to Melville's Starbuck pertains to his flesh as hard as twice-baked biscuit and live blood that would not spoil like bottled ale. Starbucks Coffee, however, provides neither ale nor twice-baked biscuits. The name has lost all tinge of its literary flavor, evoking instead a mega-chain flavor--a status achieved thanks to our contribution of big bucks.