Several women’s page editors and journalists combined motherhood and journalism careers – such as Jeanne Voltz of the Miami Herald and the L.A. Times, Anne Rowe at the St. Pete Times, Edee Greene of the Fort Lauderdale News, Vivian Castleberry of the Dallas Times Herald, Lois Hagen and Constance Daniell of the Milwaukee Journal, Maggie Savoy of the Arizona Republic, Carol Sutton of the Louisville Courier Journal, and Helen Muir of the Miami News and the Miami Herald. Happy Mother’s Day!

The New York Times has an article today about the new book about Craig Claiborne who is known as the “inventor of food journalism.” The book is called The Man Who Changed the Way We Eat by Thomas McNamee. Here is a link to the article. The above 1973 photo is from Craig’s home. I would argue that Jane Nickerson ( who held the position of food editor at the NYT prior to Craig) was the inventor – if there is such a thing – of food journalism. She was editor from 1942 through 1957. The food coverage was found in the women’s pages of the NYT.

Our baby, Paul Jacob, arrived in the world on May 1st. He is a big boy – weighing 9 pounds and 6 ounces at birth. He has been a happy baby so far and his brother Curtis is thrilled. Our Paul is named for Paul Myhre, pictured above. Paul Myhre was the director of the Penney-Missouri Awards Program during the decade of the 1960s. He was an important advocate for women and for  journalism. We got to know Paul through his letters. He was smart, funny and kind. It was great *getting to know* him. He is a great role model for our Paul.  

I just came across this announcement for a food history conference. According to the program:“The focus of the conference will be on food (and drink) history. Since the emergence of food history as a topic of study in the 1980s, scholars have struggled to define the field and much of the work has been journalistic. These trends have frustrated scholars striving to have the subject taken seriously. Our conference proposes to see these trends not as weaknesses, but as foundations upon which to build. Food history is necessarily a very broad field, as food, its production, consumption, and meanings are issues which humans, in all times and places, have had…

I just finished reviewing articles for the Association for Food Journalists’ Awards. It was an impressive selection of food journalism. I was happy to be a judge for an organization that was started by Milwaukee Journal food editor Peggy Daum several decades ago. She worked with legendary women’s page editor Aileen Ryan.

I learned today that I earned tenure and promotion in the Nicholson School of Communication at the University of Central Florida. I could not have done it without the women’s page editors and the food editors of newspapers.