Women’s History Month: Jane Nickerson
The third day of Women’s History Month features New York Times food editor Jane Nickerson. I will be blogging about a different food editor each days this month.
Nickerson’s work is often overshadowed by Craig Claiborne at the NYT. He is given credit for including news in the food section in 1957 but Jane had been doing that since World War II. The story of Nickerson’s resignation from the newspaper was explained in Craig Claiborne’s memoir, A Memoir with Recipes: A Feast Made for Laughter (New York: Doubleday & Co., 1982). He wrote that at the beginning of 1957, she told the Times that “for reasons for family” she would be resigning from the newspaper as of September 1. Claiborne, who became the NYT food editor following Nickerson, wrote:
“I was a bit startled at the news because of my respect for Jane as a journalist and also because I knew of her devotion to the job. She was a workaholic, a lady who often went into the office seven days a week to pursue her career. She was a diligent researcher with a thoroughgoing interest in learning more about the world of cuisine.” (p. 125)
He also wrote of Nickerson: She “was, to my mind, the most inventive and diligent food written in Manhattan. What she did not know she researched with great gravity and concern.” (p. 122)
After her “retirement” from the NYT, she spent many years as the food editor at the NYT-owned Lakeland Ledger. She also wrote a cookbook.
I presented a paper about Nickerson’s career at the National Communication Association convention last fall. She is heavily featured in my upcoming book, The Food Section.
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