Here's how one man achieved his goal of making pickles better forever

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Everyone knows Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers, but a real-life PhD in pickles helped make those vegetables palatable.

Dr. Ron Buescher led the food science research arm at the University of Arkansas Division of Agriculture for four decades. His name is attached to 94 journal publications and a patented natural food dye, but he earned the title of "pickle man" thanks to a crunchy innovation.

"Nobody likes a soggy pickle, right? You want it to be crisp and crunchy," said Dr. Luke Howard, a former colleague and fellow professor of Buescher, who died Aug. 2 at the age of 82. "He was just the best of the best. He improved the color, flavor, and texture of pickle products."

His colleagues recall how Beuscher went from studying how and why crops spoiled to hel