On Thursday March 20th my father Earl Bishop jr went to Malta med for some pretty bad back pain and after a few tests they found a cancerous tumor that has spread to his lymph nodes and to his lungs.

Earl has been an influential figure in the local culinary world graduating from Schenectady County community college and working as an executive chef for over 20 years. During his time, he’s been apart of the openings of the midtown tap and tea room in Albany and Peddlers bar and bistro in Clifton park. Earl has dedicated his life to making great food and great experiences for everyone who’s come into a dinning room under his watch. With winning the annual Saratoga chowder fest and being covered on the local news and featured in The Times Union paper; his talents in a kitchen were often unmatched. Earl, dedicating his life even until today in the interest of providing great food is also a dedicated father and has been the pinnacle of my life. My father’s love and passion for his craft even lead to me following in his footsteps getting into the culinary world myself working along side him as my first job at 16. His support is what continues to drive me to this day. Earls passion for cooking is only matched by his love for the Buffalo Bills being a diehard fan since the 1980’s. If there’s anywhere he’d rather be besides the kitchen would be in the stands of Highmark stadium cheering regardless of weather or record.

Throughout my life, it’s been just the two of us, and with the long road ahead we are asking the community for support. While he goes through his treatments, he will have to miss work for a while. I, his son, will support him as much as I can, we need help looking for extra peace of mind to help as the medical bills and household bills start to pile up. He plans on working as long as he can but his time behind a grill is unfortunately coming to an end.