James Beard & Female Newspaper Food Editors
This photo was posted on the Fales’ library’s Facebook wall. This is the caption: James Beard, Irma Rombauer, Cecily Brownstone, Clementine Paddleford and other guests at Cecily’s Jane Street home in the 1940s.
It is likely that James Beard would be saddened how much his story has overshadowed the women he surrounded himself with during his career. The women who promoted his career and kept his counsel, such as Jane Nickerson and Cecily Brownstone, have been marginalized in culinary history.
As Beard’s biographer, Evan Jones, wrote: “Jim was not a heterosexual, but he was a ladies’ man, and he earned deep affection from women of his own and other persuasions.” In Jones’ book, Epicurean Delight, the author mentions both Jane and Cecily and included recipes from both women.
Learn about Jane, Cecily and the many female newspaper food editors who Beard interacted in by reading my book, The Food Section.
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