James Beard
- Cecily Brownstone, food editors, food history, food journalism, James Beard, Jane Nickerson, New York Times food
NYFoodStory: It All Began With Jane Nickerson
I was excited to get my copy of the 2014 NYFoodStory in the mail today. It is the journal of the Culinary Historians of New York. In the journal, I wrote an article about the beginning of the New York City food community. As the longtime Associated Press food editor Cecily Brownstone said in her oral history: It all began with Jane Nickerson at the New York Times. Jane, Cecily, James Beard and Jane’s future husband explored the New York City food community together in the late 1940s and early 1950s. They were the original NYC foodies. I am working on an analysis of her work from 1942 to 1957.…
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Green Bean Casserole & Food Editor Cecily Brownstone
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New York Culinary Community of Jane Nickerson, Cecily Brownstone & James Beard
Here is a link to my blog post for Rowman & Littlefield about the New York City Food Community in the 1950s. The Food Section will be out at the end of the month.
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Green Bean Casserole & Food Editor Cecily Brownstone
- Cecily Brownstone, food editors, food history, food section, James Beard, Jeanne Voltz, Nora Ephron, ruth gray
Jello-O Abusers & Nicey-Nice Lady Food Journalists
Caption: Miami Herald and Los Angeles Times food editor Jeanne Voltz In his classic book about food history, The United States of Arugula, David Kamp described the newspaper food editors as “Jello-O abusers” and as “nicey-nice lady food journalists.” There were certainly some editors who did fit the description of nice. The St. Petersburg Times’ Ruth Gray, for example, felt so badly about writing a negative restaurant review that she would leave town for a few days after it was published. Yet other editors were not quite so concerned about kindness. Brownstone said about herself: “Someone told me I was bitchy. I could be bitchy occasionally.” Charlotte Observer food editor…
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Green Bean Casserole & Food Editor Cecily Brownstone
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Investigating Food Journalism History
As I go through the page proofs of The Food Section, I was reminded how this research got started. My investigation of food journalism began with a Call For Papers for the Icons of American Cooking chapters several years ago. I responded and pitched Jeanne Voltz’s name. I was familiar with Jeanne’s work as the food editor at the Miami Herald and knew that she went on to a successful career at the Los Angeles Times. Instead, I got assigned the chapter for James Beard. As I did the research for the chapter, I was amazed how much scholarship already existed about Beard. It was difficult to believe that culinary…
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Food Studies Presentation: Ohio Food Editor History
- Cecily Brownstone, food editors, food journalism, James Beard, Jane Nickerson, restaurant critics, restaurant reviewing
New York City Culinary Conversation of James Beard, Jane Nickerson, and Cecily Brownstone
My article “Dining Out: New York City Culinary Conversation of James Beard, Jane Nickerson, and Cecily Brownstone,” has been accepted for publication in NYFoodStory which is produced by the Culinary Historians of New York. In the late 1940s and for much of the 1950s, Jane Nickerson was the food editor of the New York Times . Although she has been largely overshadowed by Craig Claiborne, she was a formidable force in the New York food community. She reviewed many of the city’s restaurants, up to 21,000 in 1949. Often, her dinner companions were food writers James Beard and Cecily Brownstone. In fact, Nickerson introduced the culinary pair who would speak…
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Green Bean Casserole & Food Editor Cecily Brownstone
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Cecily Brownstone & James Beard
I was thrilled to get this Rolodex image in an email from Cecily Brownstone‘s nephew. Cecily was the longtime food editor at the Associated Press. She was a good friend of celebrity chef James Beard. I presented a paper about Cecily at the National Communication Association conference last month.
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Green Bean Casserole & Food Editor Cecily Brownstone
