Betty Fussell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Betty Fussell
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Fussell in Manhattan in 2012
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| Born | Betty Ellen Harper July 28, 1927 Riverside, California, U.S. |
| Pen name | Betty Fussell |
| Occupation | Writer, author, educator, historian |
| Language | English |
| Alma mater | Pomona College (B.A.), Radcliffe College (M.A.), Rutgers University (Ph.D.) |
| Genre | Biographies, Cookbooks, Food History, Memoirs |
| Years active | 1952–present |
| Notable works | The New York Times, The New Yorker, Los Angeles Times, Saveur, Vogue, Food & Wine, Metropolitan Home, Gastronomica,"The Story of Corn", "I Hear America Cooking", My Kitchen Wars, Raising Steaks: The Life and Times of American Beef, "Mabel: Hollywood's First I-Don't-Care Girl" |
| Notable awards | See Awards |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
Betty Ellen Fussell (born July 28, 1927) is a famous American writer. She has written 12 books! Her books cover many topics. These include biographies, cookbooks, and stories about food history and her own life.
For over 50 years, her articles have appeared in many popular magazines and newspapers. Some of these are The New York Times, The New Yorker, and Vogue. Her book about her life, My Kitchen Wars, was even turned into a play. It was performed in Hollywood and New York. Betty Fussell is still writing today.
Contents
About Her Life
Betty Fussell was born in Riverside, California, on July 28, 1927. She grew up there. In 1949, she married her college boyfriend, Paul Fussell. They had two children, Rosalind and Sam Fussell. They later divorced in 1981.
Betty Fussell has traveled all over the world. She has visited places in Europe, Africa, India, China, and many other countries. For a long time, she lived in New York City. Now, she lives in Santa Barbara, California.
Her Education
Betty Fussell studied English in college. She earned her first degree (Bachelor of Arts) from Pomona College in 1948. She then got a master's degree (M.A.) from Radcliffe College in 1951. Later, she earned her Ph.D. (a very high degree) in English from Rutgers University in 1974. Her Ph.D. research was about English plays from the Renaissance period.
Teaching and Writing About Food
From 1952 to 1978, Betty Fussell taught English literature. She taught about Shakespeare, comedy, and movies at different colleges. These included Connecticut College and Rutgers University.
Later, she started teaching about food writing and food history. This began in 1993. She taught at places like Columbia University and New York University.
Editor and Food Expert
Early in her career, Betty Fussell helped edit many books for her former husband, Paul Fussell. She also became a writer for Country Journal magazine. She was an editor for other magazines like Lear’s and Food Arts.
Betty Fussell has appeared on TV shows, including the Food Network. She often gives talks about American food history. She has spoken at many famous places. These include the Smithsonian Museum and Princeton University. She shares her knowledge about how food has changed in America over time.
Her Books
Betty Fussell's first book was a biography about a silent film comedian named Mabel Normand. After that, she started writing about food history. She has written many articles and 12 books.
Some of her first food books were I Hear America Cooking and Food in Good Season. She is known as an expert on the history of corn. She has written two whole books about corn: The Story of Corn and Crazy for Corn. In her book My Kitchen Wars, she writes about cooking and her personal life.
Her Essays
Betty Fussell has written many articles, called essays. These essays are about literature, movies, travel, and food. They have been published in many different magazines. Some of these are The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vogue, and Saveur.
She has also written scholarly essays for academic journals. These are detailed articles for experts. One of her essays, "On Murdering Eels and Laundering Swine," was even listed in a collection of the "Best American Essays."
List of Books
Here are some of the books Betty Fussell has written:
- Mabel: Hollywood’s First I-Don’t-Care Girl (1982)
- Masters of American Cookery (1984)
- I Hear America Cooking (1986)
- The Story of Corn (1992)
- Crazy for Corn (1995)
- My Kitchen Wars (1999)
- Raising Steaks: The Life & Times of American Beef (2008)
- Eat, Live, Love, Die: Selected Essays (2016)
She is currently working on a new book called How to Cook a Coyote: A Manual of Survival.
Awards and Honors
Betty Fussell has won several important awards for her writing and work in food history.
- In 1993, she won the Julia Child Cookbook Award.
- She also won the James Beard Foundation's Journalism Award.
- In 2009, she was added to the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who in American Food and Beverage. This is a special honor for important people in the food world.
- She received the Jane Grigson Award for Scholarship in 1993.
- In 2010, she won the Amelia Award from the Culinary Historians of New York.
She has also received fellowships from several artist colonies. These fellowships allow writers to focus on their work.
