RIP bagel pioneer Murray Lender

Murray Lender, the man behind the company credited with introducing most Americans to bagels has passed away. Lender, born in 1930, helped turn his father’s Connecticut bakery into a national bagel powerhouse, turning out 2.75 million Lender’s Bagels a day, while never forgetting his roots. A Connecticut friend mentioned Lender’s used to drop off green bagels for school children on St Patrick’s Day.

For you bagel purists, Murray told the AP in 1986, “Taste is a very subjective matter. It’s clear and simple: We make 2 3/4 million bagels a day. Obviously an awful lot of people are happy with it.” Coincidentally, Consumer Reports’ May issue features a bagel breakdown which honors Lender’s Bagels as one of the best. This has not gone over well in New York.

Regardless of your feelings on Lender’s Bagels, we probably wouldn’t even be having the bagel argument without Murray Lender.

(via djacobs)

• bagels
• Murray Lender