Laurie Colwin

A friend gave me a gently-loved paperback copy of Laurie Colwin's Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen, now several years ago. I tried it on for size, but didn't absorb it well on the first go; and so I shelved it for another day.

In the meantime, I started writing regularly about food, and also reading a variety of food blogs. And my food focus shifted, from anything interesting or yummy to a richer diet of slow food topics - local eating, seasonal harvests, organics produces, pastured meat and dairy, fair trade. Less quantity, more quality.

When I picked the book up again, I found it delightful and engaging. I kept turning it over to glean from the back cover profile something about the woman behind the words. The list of novels all sounded promising; but my mind kept getting stuck on the last sentence, "She died in 1992."

So finally I did what this marvelous writer could not do during her pre-internet lifespan - I Googled her. And not too surprisingly, her works remain well-read and her loyal following continues to grow. I won't repeat the regrets of various commenters in blogs and print articles, but will add one: I wish she were still with us, and blogging. It would be such a treat to read a short bit from her every so often, enjoying a peak into her treasured domesticity. It is hard to fathom that her body and mind are gone from our world, when her voice continues on so clearly.