Ardie Davis

Ardie Davis — known in competition circles as Remus Powers, Ph.B. (Doctor of Barbecue Philosophy) — was born in Oklahoma on November 25, 1941. He graduated from Westmar College in 1964 with majors in Sociology and Philosophy. His alter-ego 'Remus' comes from his lifelong love of Uncle Remus stories; 'Powers' honors a mentor from his father's mechanic shop. He is a charter member and board member emeritus of the Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS), a certified KCBS Master Judge, and a certified Memphis in May barbecue judge.

He met Jim Quessenberry on a sunny day in 1987 at the American Royal in Kansas City, wandering into Jim's team booth on a whim. Jim handed him a cold beer and told him to pull up a chair. The two became friends for life — brothers in smoke, as Ardie would later write.

Ardie and Jim worked together on an ambitious, never-published Barbecue Whole Earth Catalog — dreamed up as a landmark BBQ reference and laughed about for years. The book never found a publisher, but the friendship it produced lasted until Jim's death in 2000.

In 2016, Ardie was inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame as the Celebrity/Humanitarian candidate — one of only 15 members at the time. He writes a monthly column for the National Barbecue News and is the author of over ten BBQ books. In 2019 he penned Jim Quessenberry Remembered — the most generous account of who Jim was as a pitmaster and as a man.