One would think we all classify the same people as legends, for example you might consider great cookbook authors and chefs like Julie Child, Alice Waters or Nancy Silverton as legends. All of whom I had the opportunity to take a special class with and some even get to meet and speak with during my college years. Before I even visit those moments, there is one author who, just like Cecilia Chiang, would leave a lasting impression on my lifeline due to a series of moments or a family connection. For this entry into my series, enter the lady who kept the world of historical cookbooks relative, Marion Cunningham. If you are not aware of Marion Cunningham, in the cookbook world, she is the cookbook whisperer. As I mentioned previously, during my freshman and sophomore year, I worked in the admission office, namely as a tour guide, and I asssisted with extra curricular opportunities on campus.

It was early 1994, and Julia Child was scheduled for her second appearance of the school year, and for this week long visit, she had a special guest for one of her speaking engagements. I will write more about Julia later (I am already writing, I just want to make sure those posts really embody the full experience I had with her the two years I sat in her class or engagements.) Returning to the amazing Marion Cunningham. It was February according to my college organizer, it was raining and cold, based on memory. Marion was there with Julia to talk about cooking and baking, and how their careers and personal paths crossed over the past two decades, remember this is the the 1990’s. The request from her manager was, less is more, and the same was requested for her speaking engagement space. The news was, she was not a fan of a densely packed spaces or large crowd around her. I was lucky enough to be invited to be apart of her welcome team, namely because I begged for the opportunity. I was also good at polite crowd control in previous situations. I still remember my boss asking why I was eager. I said nothing other than I was a great admirer. Especially after the Cecilia Chiang experience in the Fall. From what I understood, this was Marion’s first visit to the school and doing this speaking engagement series. She was becoming more and more involved in the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) which was one of the sponsors for the series. Cunningham would be named as a scholar later that same year.

The backstory on Marion, she became a legend in the cooking world in short amount of time and an local icon in the bay area cooking world. She went from home cook to a student of James Beard in the early 70’s. She and Beard developed a professional relationship over the next decade as his assistant and right hand in the kitchen. In the mid-1970’s, Beard’s go to editor Judith Jones was exploring an option to revamp the Fannie Farmer Cookbook. The cookbook’s roots go back to 1896, when it was originally published as the The Boston Cooking-School Cook Book. The cook book was the seed to inception of the cook book publishing world, thanks prioneering culinary educator, Fannie Farmer. She would publish the three editions of the book before her passing in 1912. During the 1900’s, the cook book would be revised many times over, with two editions released every decade. In 1946, the publishing company changed the name of the book to include the creator’s name and finally in 1965, the name was shortened to The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, to help change the image to promote sales. By the 70’s the book had been forgotten by the publisher due low sales and in the mid 70’s Knopf editor Judith Jones enters the story. As James Beard’s editor, Jones was very aware of the culinary skills of his assistant Marion Cunningham.

As Marion shared in the first talk at school, she and Jones worked exhaustively to revisit and revamp the cookbook for the chefs of the time (the 1980’s). Around this same time, my mother first crossed paths with Marion Cunningham (who raised her family in Walnut Creek) through the Charlie Brown Society, fundraising for the Oakland Children’s Hospital in the late 60’s and 70’s. While my mother met her on occasion through meetings and events, I never met her as a child, at least to my knowledge, I was paraded every so often with my friend Noelle (fellow red head) at a few events, as poster children. Newspaper article were involved from time to time. My father gave my mother her copy of the Fannie Farmer Cookbook I believe the Chrismtas in 1979 (maybe 1980,) I still own that first edition today. With my affinity for cooking at a young age, thanks to my mother and grandma. My mother’s best friend would sometimes suggest special cooking events or book signings for my mom to take me. Marion was doing an appearance at Rakestraw books in Danville and suggested we attend with her, my mom would share the story of how she crossed paths a few times with Marion two decades earlier. This was around 1992, and I was already a great lover of cookbooks and used my mothers copy of Fannie Farmer, several times over.

As the speaking engagement ended, Marion got up and said thank you’s and quickly approached my mother, and her friend. My mother started to reintroducing herself, Marion interrupted her saying she remembered her. They started to talk about the Charlie Brown Society and explained the work they did together with my mom’s friend Carol. For the life of me I don’t know what the remainder of the conversation consisted, but soon the conversation turned to my love for cooking. I honestly didn’t know who I was really talking to in that moment. At the time, I was already considering going to CCA (now CIA) and J&W. She started to ask me questions, which I barely remember now, but I do remember telling her about my first time eating at the CCA in SF back a few years earlier for my 12th birthday. Marion had wonderful things to say about both schools and even suggested I should intern. Now, with my 17 year old brain, intern meant free labor and I was not about to give up the $15/hr lifeguard job, $50 for 30 minute private lesson or my cater waiter gigs that brought in almost $100-150 a night. Boy, was I dumb. That was the first time I met Marion, although I have a feeling my mother would say it wasn’t if she was still here. Regardless, that was the moment I didn’t want to share with my boss in college.

Barely two years had passed, when Marion arrived for that first visit at my school, she recognized me immediately and made her way over to me and just like my mother, I started to reintroduced myself to her. She immediately brought up the visit to Rakestraw at the Livery. That was followed by her asking about my mother Linda and her friend. A few moments later, Julia walked up behind Marion to usher her into the event. As Julia interrupted the conversation, she glanced at me and asked Marion, “you know this fine young man” and Marion replied while holding onto Julia’s hands, that we met two years earlier and she and my mother had done charity work for a local children’s hospital in the 70’s.” Julia then shared how we had met in the Fall and actually brought up my Cecilia Chiang connection to Marion, to which Marion replied look at me, “Cecilia and I are old friends! What a small world.”

Marion began to escorted Julie into the theater with one hand, and Julia grabbed my arm to lean on, and I helped her into the theater and the seating area. Listening to Marion and Julia’s stories on that first visit was beyond fascinating. From her work with James Beard and Judith Jones, to her friendships with other legends like Alice Waters and Ruth Reischl, she even threw in there a long story about Ms. Chiang (as I called her) and giving a smile and a wink while she was telling it. Marion even had stories about other authors that I loved dearly growing up, like Craig Claiborne (who I would get to meet my sophomore year) and Edna Lewis. She especially enjoyed sharing stories about Edna Lewis, who I simply adored, because of my mothers copy of her cookbook, The Taste of Country Cooking. She was another great I wish I had the pleasure to see speak or cook. After that event, I helped Marion and Julia head home for the day. It was beyond a memorable experience. I still remember when I went home that evening, spending two hours on the phone with my mother talking about the whole experience. I know it was over two hours, because my dad would call me the following month, to complain about my phone bill he just about to pay. Yes, you had to pay by the minute in those days.

Marion enjoyed her visit that year to the school so much, she arranged to return during my sophomore year. Initially, I was not scheduled to work that week because I was planning on skipping my classes on Thursday and heading to NYC as collections week was well underway and my boyfriend at the time needed my help in the studio he worked. My admissions boss called me the two nights before I was scheduled to leave, to tell me how disappointed he was I couldn’t work because Marion had asked if I would be there that day to help with the event. It was October, I felt and decided to not leave on Wednesday night and chose Thursday instead, which allowed me to not skip class and work the event for Marion. I also got lucky, because I would have missed a surprise test I couldn’t make up. I spent the 24 hours before getting an earful from my boyfriend. In one conversation, on the phone, he had his coworkers in the background guilting me leaving them in a lurch for some author. A male voice in the background, said “Wait! what author?”. Oh some cookbook author I’ve never heard of, I asked my boyfriend, “who is asking?” He replied, “just Todd, what’s the authors name?” Todd was his boss and the designer. He conveyed Marion’s name, and I could hear Todd screech and berade my boyfriend, telling him I had to stay and stop giving shit for choosing Marion Cunningham over him. All of a sudden Todd was on the phone line, asking me questions about her and how did I meet her. I still remember that call clearly today. Even the screaming over the line when he said her name.

In the end, I choose to not give up the moment to see Marion again or let down my boss. I did feel a little like I was missing something huge in NYC. I was being exposed to the fashion world thanks to my boyfriend. Normally I took the train to NYC, and I did promise to get their sooner, that was the first and only time I actually flew from Providence to JFK, to go to NYC. For some reason the flights ended up being cheap that time of year. But as a college student who only worked a few days a week with a florist and at a deli, it cost me a fortune! . I also didn’t want to let my admissions boss down and honestly I was really humbled Marion asked for me.

In writing this post, the length just got out of control. I know, “lets wrap it up Brian!” As you can see meeting Marion was simply an adventure! I promise the next post will be released next week. The next post will round out her second visit, and expose a moment that got me stuck in a place where it was time to make a transition in my life.

Meeting LEGENDS: Marion Cunningham (part 1)

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