We recently lost a dear friend and early supporter of the Guild, and a champion of artisan baking, Greg Mistell.  Tom McMahon, Guild founder, wrote this tribute to Greg:

If you are a member of the Guild, one of your best friends passed away recently. Greg Mistell was just a humble baker...and because of that humility, he was so much more. Greg Mistell always was, and will forever be, the heart and the soul of the Bread Bakers Guild of America.

He was not in baking for the fanfare or trendiness. His goal was only and always to hone his craft because he loved it. With quiet perseverance and constant practice, he achieved the holy grail of what my wife Melinda called “thrilling croissants” and earned Greg the affectionate title of “The Laminator.”

Even with all his skill, he was not in baking for fame. In looking through our Guild scrapbook,

Greg was there at every milestone event and meeting. He appears in every photo, most often in the back row, not seeking attention. Always downplaying his contributions, his tireless work on the Guild’s behalf; organizing and giving moral support and encouragement wherever needed.

He got us through the growing pains of the Guild and led the final push to realize the National Baking Center. “If you build it, they will come.” And all the while, he was running and growing his own successful, top-level bakeries in Portland.

Greg was modest, soft-spoken and reserved, and only those who knew that understood the real effort he made to take on a more public role. He was happiest as a supporter of the ideas and ideals of the Guild’s mission, and he never failed to step up and help in the most difficult times.

The day did arrive – in early 1994 – when Greg was forced to save the day. The Guild’s efforts to get an invitation to the Coupe du Monde de la Boulangerie in France were finally successful. But time was short! A team had to be chosen; formulas had to be practiced and perfected. Not just breads. Viennoiserie and an “Artistic Piece” were required of each three-member team. There was no time for preliminary try-outs; the team had only a few months to prepare.

Rick Kirkby of Acme Bakery was an obvious choice for the bread category. Greg knew Rick and his talent; they were kindred spirits, both low-key and competent. For viennoiserie, a baker from the other coast, also a member of the Guild and making a name for himself, was chosen. For the “Artistic Piece” category: a very brave young member of the Guild, Mary Ellen Hatch, volunteered. (This “art” was little seen or practiced by bakers in the U.S., but it was an artistic tradition for bakers in Europe.)

The Lesaffre company offered the team an opportunity to practice at its baking center in France, especially important because of the differences between U.S. flours and the French flours that would be used in the competition. In Lille, France, Rick and Greg talked and worked together as though they had been baking together for years. The entire Lesaffre staff was immediately impressed with Rick’s breads. But, unfortunately, the Lesaffre staff also warned that the team’s viennoiserie would not score well in Paris.

Unexpectedly, after returning to the States, I got a call from a lawyer. He informed me that his client, the Team’s viennoiserie baker, could not and would not allow the Guild to reprint “his” formulas because they were “copyrighted.” I informed the lawyer that the team member knew in advance that all Team USA’s formulas would be published by the Guild: after all, the Team’s entire purpose was to learn and share! Therefore, that baker - by his own choice - could not, and certainly would not, remain a member of the team. With only about eight weeks remaining before the competition, Team USA desperately needed a baker competent in viennoiserie.

By now everyone must have guessed how the story ends. Greg was always as good at viennoiserie as he was at breadmaking. In any other situation, he would have never sought or accepted a position on the team. But there he was, now a full member of the Guild’s first Baking Team USA. In Paris he represented the U.S.A. well. Greg would humbly tell you that it wasn’t his greatest day, that he made a few mistakes. But as always, he was there! That first Team USA pretty much shocked the Coupe du Monde organization and the other European teams, setting a standard for the USA teams that followed.

Maggie Glezer, in her wonderful and well-researched book “Artisan Baking Across America”, must have had Greg in mind when she wrote in her Introduction: “I have...learned that bakers are the most grounded, interesting, generous, inspiring and energetic people I know.”

Greg will forever be “Number 1” to me – and to so many others who have worked with him, talked with him, learned from him, or just had the opportunity to spend some time with him. As he was “just a humble baker”, he was also a noble human being. He was my hero.