Joshua Ozersky facts for kids

Joshua Ozersky (born August 22, 1967 – died May 4, 2015) was an American writer and historian who focused on food. He became well-known as a founder of Grub Street, a food blog for New York magazine. For his work there, he received a James Beard Foundation Award in 2008.

Ozersky wrote several books, including The Hamburger: A History and Colonel Sanders and the American Dream. He was also an Editor-at-Large for Esquire magazine, where he wrote about food and restaurants. He contributed to other major publications like The Wall Street Journal and Food & Wine. Even though he was known as a food writer, he often said he didn't like "food writing" itself.

Early Life and Education

Joshua Ozersky was born in Miami, Florida, in 1967. When he was 12, in 1979, his family moved to Atlantic City, New Jersey. His father, David Ozersky, was a painter who started working as a stage technician at a casino-hotel there.

Joshua went to Atlantic City High School and later to Rutgers University. When he was 14, his mother, Anita Ozersky, passed away suddenly. He often spoke about how food became a big interest for him. He said that he and his father talked a lot about movies and especially food. His father taught him to enjoy different foods, like steaks and sausages.

Later, Ozersky studied at New York University's School of Journalism. He also earned a master's degree in American history from the University of Notre Dame.

Writing Career

After finishing college at Rutgers University in 1989, Ozersky began writing for various publications. He wrote about media and cultural history. Some of his first paid articles appeared in a weekly paper called "The Hoboken Review." In one early article, he wrote about his preference for "greasy" food, which became a common theme in his later food writing.

From 1990 to 1993, he wrote two weekly columns for the West Side Spirit, a newspaper in New York City. One column was about TV shows, and the other was a "cheap-eats" column called "The Impoverished Gourmand." In the mid-1990s, he also wrote for Newsday, often contributing essays on culture.

His book, Archie Bunker's America: TV in an Era of Change, was published in 2003. Although he hoped to become a public intellectual, he eventually focused on food writing full-time. This shift happened after his 2003 book, Meat Me in Manhattan.

In 2008, his book The Hamburger: A History was very successful. It received good reviews from many well-known publications.

Food Writing and Awards

After Meat Me in Manhattan was published, Ozersky became a restaurant critic for Newsday from 2004 to 2006. He also wrote regularly for the website Slashfood.

He became the first editor of New York Magazine's food blog, Grub Street. He held this job until 2008. After that, he moved to Citysearch as the National Restaurant Editor. There, he ran a daily food blog called The Feedbag.

In 2009, he left Citysearch to start Ozersky.TV. This project, launched in 2010, featured short films about restaurants and cooking. From 2010 to 2012, he wrote the "Taste of America" column for Time magazine. Both Ozersky.TV and his work for The Wall Street Journal were nominated for James Beard Foundation Awards. His essays were also included in "The Best Food Writing" collections in 2009, 2012, and 2014.

Meatopia Event

Joshua Ozersky was the creator of Meatopia. This is a large outdoor food event that celebrates meat. It has been held in New York City for ten years. In 2013, Meatopia events also took place in London, England, and San Antonio, Texas. More cities were planned for future years.

Each year, Meatopia had a different theme. For example, one year was "City Meat," where the festival was divided into different "neighborhoods" named after parts of animals. In 2014, the event was called "The Carnivore's Ball," celebrating Meatopia's 10th anniversary.

Meatopia has been described as "a glorious city of meat" by The Huffington Post. The New York Times called it "a bacchanal of pork, beef, lamb, chicken, duck, turkey and quail."

Death

Joshua Ozersky passed away unexpectedly on May 4, 2015. He was found in his hotel room in Chicago, where he was attending the James Beard Foundation Awards.