Eli and the Octopus: The CEO Who Tried to Reform One of the World’s Most Notorious Corporations
(Harvard University Press, 2023)

Saturday, September 30
12:30 p.m.
Bethel United Methodist Church Fellowship Hall
Garcia will be discussing Eli and the Octopus

Saturday, September 30
9:00 a.m.
Historic Lewes Farmers Market
Garcia will be discussing Food Across Borders

In addition to his presentation at HBF, Matt Garcia will be visiting the Historic Lewes Farmers Market at 9:00 a.m., where he’ll talk with market-goers about his life as a farmer and the book he co-edited, Food Across Borders. The stories told in Food Across Borders highlight the contiguity between the intimate decisions we make as individuals concerning what we eat and the social and geopolitical processes we enact to secure nourishment, territory, and belonging. When it comes to food, there’s more that unites us than divides us.

About Eli and the Octopus
On February 3, 1975, Eli Black leapt to his death from the 44th floor of Manhattan’s Pan Am building. The immigrant-turned-CEO of United Brands (formerly United Fruit, now Chiquita), Black seemed an embodiment of the American dream. United Brands was transformed under his leadership, from the “Octopus,” a nickname that captured the corrupt power the company held over Latin American governments, to a socially conscious company working with labor unions to improve conditions for its workers. How did it all go wrong?

This event is presented in partnership with ACLU Delaware and Historic Lewes Farmers Market.

About the author
Matt Garcia is the Ralph and Richard Lazarus Professor of History, Latin American, Latino, and Caribbean Studies, and Human Relations at Dartmouth College. His other books include From the Jaws of Victory: The Triumph and Tragedy of Cesar Chavez and the Farm Worker Movement.

Garcia will be in conversation with Bruce Goldstein at the event.

Bruce Goldstein is an attorney who consults on labor rights, immigration policy, and corporate social responsibility.  In 2021, he retired as the long-time president of Farmworker Justice, a national advocacy, litigation, and education organization for farmworkers and their families.

Purchase the book
Please help support local independent bookstores by purchasing this book at Browseabout Books, official bookseller of the History Book Festival. Online sources and digital versions are tempting; however, supporting local brick and mortar shops helps to preserve our vibrant main streets. Drop by Browseabout, order books online, or call the store at 302-226-2665. You also may purchase a copy at biblion in Lewes.

About the Festival
The History Book Festival is the first and only book festival in the United States devoted exclusively to history. With the help of our presenting funding partners — Delaware Humanities and The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices I PenFed Realty — as well as our program and community partners, volunteers, and donors, the 2023 History Book Festival will be full of great discussions with authors of newly published narrative nonfiction and historical fiction. Our Keynote Address is presented by Sally Mott Freeman and John K. Freeman, and our Closing Address is presented by Dogfish Head Beer & Benevolence.

Special thanks to our program partners for their continuing support: the Lewes Public Library for event promotion and venue; Browseabout Books in Rehoboth Beach, official bookseller of the History Book Festival; Lewes Chamber of Commerce for event promotion, and the Cape Gazette and Delmarva Public Media, our media partners.

Additional thanks to our community partners: ACLU Delaware, Beebe Healthcare, CAMP Rehoboth, Historic Lewes Farmers Market, Lewes Historical Society, Rehoboth Art League, Rehoboth Beach Historical Society & Museum, Seaside Jewish Community, and Southern Delaware Alliance for Racial Justice (SDARJ).