Florida Communication of Association Conference
Tomorrow I am speaking about Florida food editors at the Florida Communication Association Conference. Here is a segment of the paper:
Jeanne Voltz was the food editor at the Miami Herald during the 1950s. She earned a journalism degree from what is now the University of Montevallo. She worked the news beat during World War II and married a fellow journalist. She then became the food editor at the Miami Herald in the 1950s and at the Los Angeles Times in the 1960s through the early 1970s. She later became the food editor at Woman’s Day magazine. She wrote many cookbooks and was considered an expert on barbecue and Southern cooking. In her more than forty years as a journalist, Voltz became what one culinary authority described as “the best known food expert you’ve probably never heard of.” Today, Voltz’s recipe for Green Corn Tamales can be found on the Food Network website with a note giving credit to her acclaimed book, Barbecued Ribs, Smoked Butts, and Other Great Feeds. James Beard, a well-known name in food and a contemporary of Julia Child, wrote of that book, “Jeanne Voltz has written a definitive book on barbecuing. She understands the varying tastes and the techniques of each region she covers and this is THE book on barbecue.”
Virginia Heffington was the food editor at the Miami Herald in the 1960s, following Voltz. She earned a home economics degree from Iowa State University in 1954. She worked in the food department of women’s magazines before becoming the food editor at the Miami Herald in the 1960s. While there she wrote a cookbook about Florida food. By 1971, she became the food editor at the Long Beach (CA) Independent Press-Telegram. She was kicked out of Liberace’s kitchen while covering a story. She said to the singer: “I think we should forget the story because you’re a better piano player than you are a cook. Your beef stroganoff tastes more like canned beef stew.”
Bertha Cochran Hahn was the food editor at the Miami News. She earned a home economics degree from Purdue University and worked as a home demonstration agent. During World War II, she became a second lieutenant in the Army Medical Crops and was stationed in Air Force hospitals. After the war, she earned a journalism degree from the University of Miami. She became the food editor at the Miami News in the 1953 and remained in the position through the 1960s. She was described as knowing “hundreds of ways to use a mango.” She was hired by influential editor Jim Bellows. One of Hahn’s colleagues said Bellows “hired these women, was able to give us some space to stretch in, and admired and encouraged our work.”
Jane Nickerson was the first food editor at the New York Times and later became the food editor at the Lakeland Ledger. In 1938, Nickerson graduated from the all-female Radcliffe College. The following year, she began her journalism career as an editorial assistant for the Ladies’ Home Journal. She moved on to the Saturday Evening Post before moving to New York City in 1942 to work at the New York Times as the newspaper’s first food editor. She wrote news and feature stories about food, as well as reviewed restaurants. She left the newspaper in 1957 and moved to Florida with her husband, Alexander Steinberg. After raising four children, she wrote a cookbook and became the food editor in 1973 at the Ledger. Food historian Anne Mendelon wrote: “Jane Nickerson’s articles and recipes show her as an observer of wide-ranging curiosity and knowledge, moving with some sensitivity between prosaic ‘service’ information and higher-flying gastronomic matters.”
Barbara Clendinen was the food editor at the Tampa Tribune in the 1950s. She was a friend of Clementine Paddleford and she attended the annual food editors’ meetings. She was married to an editor at the newspaper and the mother of two children. She was described as “a true steel magnolia, a charming honey-voiced Southern woman.” Her recipes are included in the 1952 Coast to Coast cookbook. She pushed to integrate the Tampa YMCA in the 1960s.
Ann McDuffie then took over as food editor at the Tampa Tribune. She held the position from 1960 through 1990. She won numerous food reporting rewards and judged national cooking competitions, including the Pillsbury Bake-Off. According to her publisher: “Mac was in the forefront nationally of newspaper food editors who brought the output of the nation’s food industry into colorful and useful focus for consumers at home.” Her motto was: “Never trust a skinny food editor.”
