Joe Ades, the carrot peeler of the Union Square Greenmarket died on Sunday at age of 75. Here’s the NYT article about his death today.

This man was a master salesman. If you never had the opportunity to watch his pitch, do yourself a favor and watch this video.

Watching him at the Greenmarket was always a joy. And as for the peelers, they’re the best. I bought one from him for $5 a few years ago and it’s still the only peeler that I use. He would end every pitch with:

“The peelers are 1 for $5 and 5 for $20. Now, why would anyone need five peelers if they last a lifetime? You keep one and give the rest to four friends.”

Often when I use the peeler, I think about him and try to immitate his pitch in his delightful British accent. My only regret is that I never bought five peelers from him so that I could have kept one and given the rest to four friends.