What’s Brewing at The Sun

A coffee mug on a table in front of a window. The mug has quotes of Jane Austen in many sizes and styles.

Nancy Holochwost
Associate Editor
My Jane Austen quotation mug was a gift from my mom, and I like having something to read while I drink my tea — or my once-a-month cup of coffee.

A silver mug on a table with the January 2023 issue of The Sun open to the interview Out There, Seth Shostak interviewed by David Mahaffey. On the mug is a nineteenth-century lamplighter bearing a guitar case and a torch while riding a tall bike.

David Mahaffey
Associate Editor
Most of The Sun staff have not fully returned to the office after the pandemic lockdown, so I work from home. To cultivate a healthy work/life balance, I reserve this mug for weekend coffee. Unlike most nineteenth-century lamplighters, the one on my mug bears a guitar case, as well as the usual torch, while riding a tall bike. This one is probably lighting the way to a Peter Mulvey gig — I got the mug from him.

A white coffee mug is held up for the photo. The mug has a caricature of Edgar Allan Poe on it.

Anna Gazmarian
Outreach Coordinator
Whenever I feel sad, I feel solidarity in using my Edgar Allan Poe mug that was purchased for a dollar at a thrift store.

A coffee mug on a table in front of a window. On the lower half of the mug is a set of longitude and latitude coordinates.

Rachel J. Elliott
Editorial Associate & Photo Editor
My friend Ilona gave this to me for my birthday. The coordinates are the corner where we meet for our weekly walks — time that I cherish, as it has deepened our friendship.

Robert Graham
Art Director
Picking a favorite coffee mug is nearly impossible — like picking a favorite shirt. Each has their place, but some occupy a higher echelon. These mugs were made by Mark Hewitt, a contemporary North Carolina potter. (He’s an Englishman, but a longtime resident and avid student of our state’s deep history of ceramics.) As a visually inclined art director, I’ve come to appreciate form and weight, too, and these mugs check every box: beautiful, graceful, comfortable, lightweight. The one in the foreground is twenty-four years old, with the chips and scars to show it. It was the first piece of craft pottery I ever bought; I’ve used it almost daily since.

A white coffee mug on a table that says Luv Ya Black N Gold.

Derek Askey
Associate Editor
Go Steelers!

A white coffee mug on a table with the outlines of several triangles along a line with some above the line and some below.

Finn Cohen
Associate Editor
My cousin’s husband, Rob Cartelli, is a potter in Vermont, and he made this. I’ve had to tell some family members to stop buying me coffee mugs because there’s only so much room, and our collection in general is one of those things where you have no idea where they all came from. But Rob’s mug is the one I reach for first out of the dishwasher.

Coffee mug that reads # No Filter on an office desk.

Chrystal Pitt
Reader Services Manager
I received this mug as a birthday gift at my last job, where everyone knew I love coffee and have no filter. Now my Sun colleagues have learned the same thing!

Coffee mug that reads Begin Each Day with a Grateful Heart on a counter next to a Cuisinart drip coffee maker.

Shani Armstrong
Reader Services Specialist
My husband found this gem at a Goodwill. “Begin each day with a grateful heart” and a cup of coffee.

Christmas coffee mug is held above a countertop. The mug has a moose with a cardinal on the left antler and a squirrel on the right, each holding the end of a string with mittens hanging from it. A raccoon and a bunny flank the moose on the bottom.

Staci Kleinmaier
Assistant Editor
This Christmas critters mug was a from-me-to-me gift last holiday season. I had a hard time putting it away, though, because the moose makes me smile. So I drink my tea out of it year-round.

Coffee mug that reads Fancy Man Enjoys Tea is set on a kitchen counter.

Andrew Snee
Senior Editor
Had to give up coffee. Have tried to keep my sense of humor about it.

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