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Talking About Clubwomen to the Junior League of Daytona Beach
I am looking forward to my talk tomorrow evening to the Junior League of Daytona Beach: “Women’s Clubs: Well Behaved Women Who Helped Create Community.” In my presentation, I will discuss Marie Anderson’s contributions to Miami. Above is a photo of Marie Anderson, the longtime women’s page editor of the Miami Herald and the president of the Miami Junior League in 1945. (She is the one wearing glasses; she is sitting next to fellow journalist Dorothy Jurney.) In the mid-1960s, nearly 9,000 women showed up when Anderson ran a notice asking if female readers were interested in continuing their education. It led to the highly successful Council for the Continuing…
- food editors, food history, food journalism, journalism ethics, journalism history, Peggy Daum, ruth gray
Our Gatronomica Article Is Out
Our article about newspaper food sections and journalism is out. Our investigation looked at the accusations against food editors by Senator Frank Moss and found them baseless. It also highlights the work of food journalists Peggy Daum, at the Milwaukee Journal, and Ruth Gray, of the St. Pete Times, as well as the creation of what is now called the Association of Food Journalists. Here is a link to it.
- Florida history, Florida Women's Pages, food editors, food journalism, Top Food Editors, Virginia Heffington
Top Food Editors: Day 30 & Virgnia Heffington
Day 30 of Top Food Editors features Virginia Heffington – a food editor in Florida and California. Recently, the Miami Herald cited a recipe from its 1960s food editor Virginia Heffington. Above 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…
- Dorothy Chapman, Florida newspapers, Florida Women's Pages, food editors, food history, journalism history, Top Food Editors
Top Food Editors: Day 29 & Dorothy Chapman
Day 29 of Top Food Editors features Dorothy Chapman. She had been the women’s page editor at the Orlando Sentinel when Barr was the food editor. When Barr retired in 1969, Chapman became the food editor. In 1971, Chapman became the first restaurant editor at the newspaper. She wrote several cookbooks based on her column, “Thought You’d Never Ask.” According to her obituary: “As the Orlando Sentinel’s first restaurant critic, Chapman wielded her pen and fork with a civil tongue. “We [chefs] gave her a lot of respect because she gave us a lot of respect,” said longtime Orlando restaurateur Major Jarman. “She was fair. Everyone took her comments as…
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Top Food Editors: Day 28 & Grace Barr
Day 28 of Top Food Editors features Orlando Sentinel food editor Grace Warlow Barr. I 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…
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Top Food Editors: Day 27 & Eleanor Ostman
Day 27 of Top Food Editors features Eleanor Ostman. She graduated from Macalester College’s journalism program and wrote about home furnishings before covering food at the St. Paul Pioneer-Press. At the time, she was a young wife without much cooking experience. She wrote about her family’s love of a dish or a disaster that she had in the kitchen. She initiated a recipe column “This Sunday” that ran for more than 25 years. She is known for having lunch with Paul Newman after winning his recipe contest. She was often confused with her counterpart at the St. Louis Post-Dispatch who had a similar name. She was married to Ron Aune…

