food history
- food editors, food history, food journalism, food writing, Polly Paffilas, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Polly Paffilas
Day 24 of Women’s History Month features Polly Paffilas, the longtime food editor at the Akron Beacon Journal. According to her obituary:“”Polly was one of the grand dames of journalism,’ said her former longtime colleague Mickey Porter. “She’d tackle any kind of story.”Her newspaper career covered more than 45 years before she retired in 1987. She and colleague Frances B. Murphey, who died in 1998, broke into the business as temporary hires through Manpower. When the staff was short in the newsroom during World War II, they were called in. It was a male-dominated business when Miss Paffilas signed on in 1942, in the low-tech days of pencils, typewriters and…
- food editors, food history, food journalism, food section, Julie Duvac Bowes, Times-Picayune food, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Julie Duvac Bowes
Day 21 of Women’s History Month features Julie Duvac Bowes of New Orleans. She began her career of 30 years as the Food Editor of the Times-Picayune in 1949 under the pen name of Sue Baker. She tested on her family the recipes that she used in her twice-weekly column, published on Thursdays and in color on Sundays in the Dixie Roto Magazine. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a degree in home economics in 1942. She married during World War II, and her husband later became a judge. She raised five children and was an accomplished golfer. She is featured in my upcoming book, The Food Section.
- Florida food, food editors, food history, food journalism, food section, Grace Barr, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Grace Barr
Day 18 of Women’s History Month features Orlando Sentinel food editor Grace Warlow Barr. She attended Goucher College in Baltimore before marrying Leal Barr. The couple had twins: Gracia and Graham. They divorced in 1936 and she joined the Sentinel in 1940 to support her family. She initially became the society editor with a column called “Cynthia’s Tea Table Chatter.” The column ended in 1964 and she focused on food. She was the food editor until her retirement in 1969. Her cookbook, Cooking with Grace, was published in 1970. She was known for her recipes that began with “start with a stick of butter.” She had an active social life…
- Florida food, Florida newspapers, Florida Women's Pages, food editors, food history, food journalism, food section, Virginia Heffington, women's history month
Women’s History Month: Virginia Heffington
Day 16 of Women’s History Month features Virginia Heffington – a food editor in Florida and California. Recently, the Miami Herald cited a recipe from its 1960s food editor Virginia Heffington. This is the book that Heffington wrote in 1968 when she was the Homemaking Editor of the Miami Herald. At that point she had been at the Herald for five years and had won a Vesta Award – the top recognition for food journalism. In the introduction to the book, she mentioned that she was a graduate of Iowa State in home economic journalism. I also found an archive in Canada that had ten of Virginia’s clips in its…
- Florida food, Florida Women's Pages, food editors, food history, food journalism, Rosa Tusa, women's history month
Women’s History Month: Rosa Tusa
Day 11 of Women’s History Month highlights Rosa Tusa – from Milwaukee, Wisconsin and Palm Beach, Florida. Rosa Tulsa learned to cook from her Italian father and was hired by the Milwaukee Sentinel’s women’s pages in 1953. She became the Sentinel food editor in 1962. She married painter Kyril Vassilev after meeting when Tusa interviewed him for a story. The couple lived in a castle and raised Great Danes. She was a good friend of Poppy Cannon and judged the 1970 Pillsbury Bake-Off. In 1971, she and her husband moved to Florida and she became the food editor of the Palm Beach Post. During her career, she attempted to cook…
- Dorothee Polson, food editors, food history, food journalism, food section, women's history month, women's page history
Women’s History Month: Dorothee Polson
Day 9 of Women’s History Month features Arizona Republic food editor Dorothee Polson. She was a Vesta Award winner for top newspaper food writing. Inan oral history, history, Dorothee mentions her experiences as a food journalist. Here is one of my favorite parts as she described coming to Phoenix in 1962:“I think it helped me that there had not been a food section, because there were no rules and regulations to follow. I could just do whatever I wanted to. And I did. I would do interviews with interesting people that had nothing to do with food and just bring in their favorite recipes, because everyone eats. Most people cook…