Paul Block

Get instant alerts when news breaks on your stocks. Claim your 1-week free trial to StreetInsider Premium here. Eastside Distilling, Inc. (NASDAQ: EAST), a consumer-focused beverage company that builds craft inspired experiential brands and high-quality artisan products around premium spirits and ready-to-drink ("RTD") craft cocktails, today announced that Paul Block, the Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board, resigned from his positions with the Company on February 1st. The Company has named Geoffrey Gwin as the interim CEO, and Elizabeth Levy-Navarro as the Chairman of the Board. In addition, the Company announced the appointment of Amy Lancer to the position of Chief Commercial Officer of Spirits.

Editor’s Note: Exactly a century ago, Paul Block bought his first -- and only – newspaper in the South, the Memphis News-Scimitar, in what seemed to be one of the South’s fastest-growing and most progressive regions. As in other cities, he made the paper better and more successful. But when he sought to properly celebrate a heroic Black man who saved many lives, he ran into trouble fueled by resentment and race hatred.