Wingazette® Magazine is proud to have the opportunity to interview Mr. Gerry Whitman, a courageous wingeater and Atlanta Braves fan. Mr. Whitman (his first name is pronounced "Gary") resides next door to the Wingazette® Magazine offices. (Editor's note:  Unfortunately, Gerry no longer resides next door, as the offices moved to Indiana.  He does, however, have a lifetime invitation for wings at our place whenever he's in the mood.)  Gerry also has a recipe published on our site for Outdoor Man Chicken.

WingazetteÒ Magazine: Gerry, thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule for this interview. Tell us, how does it feel to be located so close to the WingazetteÒ Magazine offices?

WHITMAN: Obviously, it is an honor and a privilege for me to be so close to what I f eel is an up and coming publication. I have the distinct honor of being able to test, if you will, some of the developing recipes that I feel will be winners in the future. I realize that this is a situation that only a few people in the world could experience, and I'm very thankful that I'm one of them.

WingazetteÒ Magazine: Have you ever noticed a problem with toxic fumes drifting toward your property from our research labs?

WHITMAN: Funny you should bring that up, it seems that often on Friday afternoons, while I am outside doing lawn maintenance, I’ve been overcome by what I thought might have been gas fumes, or something of that sort. After I turn the mower off, I do find that it still lingers, so I can only speculate that the kitchen must be very active that day. I refuse to come much closer, for fear of my normal reaction, which is a profuse sweating, with a clogging nose. I usually choose to go inside until the cooking stops.

WingazetteÒ Magazine: Could you tell us more about your specific reactions to some of the recipes from the Turner’s Fine Line of Wing Products that you have sampled at the WingazetteÒ Magazine facilities?

WHITMAN: Well, you've obviously seen my reaction to some of the more flammable recipes, but to describe it to the rest of your readers becomes somewhat difficult. I feel that WingazetteÒ Magazine should consider adding a "Bead Factor" category to the rankings to allow people like myself to gauge the level of sweating to expect from a given establishment.

The TURNER' S BURNERS has always been a personal favorite of mine. I can recall my first effort at consumption, and on that day there was an enhancement added to the recipe making them "Turner's Burners Turbos". You noticed that the back of the hat I was wearing was a deeper color than the rest of my hat, and I actually had sweated through the cap.

I could easily foresee a category with different profusion levels, with "Back of the Hat" being one level of heat measurement. In my case, eating an order of TURNER’S BURNERS or TURNER’S TORCHERS is very much like coming out of a swimming pool for me.

WingazetteÒ Magazine: Is there any particular safety equipment that you favor for dealing with these situations?

WHITMAN: I'm hoping that you will continue with your plans to develop the WingazetteÒ Magazine sweat band for the head and the wrist. Right now, I have to settle for several towels and many glasses of water to try to cope with a very messy situation.

WingazetteÒ Magazine: Tell us about your wing eating history, and how you started eating spicy chicken wings

WHITMAN: Quite frankly, I still consider myself to be a bit of a novice in the industry. My first experience of finding a truly good wing, and I have eaten in a number of restaurants that did nothing for me, was at J.R. Cricket's across from the Varsity.

Some years ago, we were on the way to see a Braves game, and at that time, the Braves were worse than the Hardee's hot wings and their advertising. We stopped in at Cricket's, and sat in the little bay window and began consuming mass quantities of products.

Ultimately, we selected one of their hotter versions of wings, and that's when I found out that I had my own peculiar problems with perspiration while eating these great levels of spice.

After the experience, which I did enjoy, I abstained from any further spicy foods for about a month. J.R. Cricket's was one of the best places you could go to get wings at the time. Since that time, I started trying some other basic recipes like Hooters. I made other similar mistakes along the way.

WingazetteÒ Magazine really helped me with my education in the wing eating business, and where to find the best wings. I keep thinking that maybe I can find something on my own to submit to WingazetteÒ Magazine but I'm having a hard time finding things that you don’t already know about, since you seem to stay right on the leading edge of wing technology.

WingazetteÒ Magazine: You mentioned the Atlanta Braves, the official team of WingazetteÒ Magazine , and I'm sure that you've seen Dave Justice in our driveway begging for just one more drumette before a big doubleheader. Do you realize that during every crucial moment this season, the Sid Bream grand slams and so forth, that we always had a chicken wing in our mouths at the time?

WHITMAN: I think that we are on to something here, and it was a great season wasn’t it? I think that next year, if were going to support them through another 162 game season and into the post season, we're going to be quite busy, and I'll be sweating an awful lot!

I think that there is something to this theory. During the season and during the playoffs, we seemed to be fueling their fire for some mystical reason. Maybe it was the slight resemblance between the drumette and the tomahawk. Maybe we could talk to Ted Turner and see what we can do to get a drumette in everyone's hand to do the Tomahawk Chop with an order of FLAMING TOMAHAWK WINGS. I understand that research is underway to develop a recipe that will propel the Braves to the top of the league once more.

WingazetteÒ Magazine: Please explain to us what happened during the last two games of the World Series. We invited you over for wings, and you did not show up. What exactly happened?

WHITMAN: I did break tradition on those days. I am ashamed to admit that I did not consume wings during either game. I am certain that I actually caused the demise of that great team by my foolish actions, and I vow never to let it happen again.

I honestly believe that if we all maintain a steady consumption rate of FLAMING TOMAHAWK WINGS from Turner's Fine Line of Wing Products, that the Braves will be able to sweep the series in four games next year.

WingazetteÒ Magazine: What would you rank as one of your most courageous wing eating experiences?

WHITMAN: I don't have to think twice about that one. The first time I was invited to participate in a WingazetteÒ Magazine taste panel, and I saw the ingredients for TURNER'S TORCHERS actually going together, my knees started to tremble. The "bead factor" on that batch was indescribable. I didn’t quite catch what the special enhancement was on that occasion, but it took all of my courage to eat them all. Those were the hottest wings I have ever put in my mouth.

WingazetteÒ : Is there anything else you would like to say to the readers of WingazetteÒ Magazine ?

WHITMAN: I’m just fortunate to be so close to your corporate offices, and to hear first hand some of the important issues facing the wing industry today. I'm looking forward to next year, when the survey is published that will reveal if there is a correlation between regular consumption of TURNER’S BURNERS and the prevention of the common cold.

The Wing Ding at Stone Mountain, is another exciting event that I'll be hoping to attend in 1992. Maybe I’ll be able to contribute as a member of the WingazetteÒ Magazine competition team.

I just hope that as I travel around that I can make a meaningful contribution to the WingazetteÒ Magazine by sending in some reviews and rankings

WingazetteÒ Magazine: Thanks Gerry, for taking the time to speak to us today, and we'll look forward to the rankings and reviews from you and all of the readers of WingazetteÒ Magazine .

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