Hess, Karen 1918-2007

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Born November 11, 1918, in Blair, NE; died of a stroke, May 15, 2007, in New York, NY. Historian and author. Hess was a pioneer in the field of food history, compiling and editing cookbooks and recipes from early American history. She was a graduate of San Jose State University, and after marrying lived in Paris, France, for nine years with her correspondent husband. Upon returning to the United States, she was appalled by all the junk food she saw Americans eating. She felt that people should go back to simpler whole foods and enjoy the dining experience more, and this led to her first book, The Taste of America (1977; 3rd edition, 1989), written with her husband. Next, she began writing about historical recipes. She edited Martha Washington's Booke of Cookery (1981), wrote notes and commentaries to Mary Randolph's The Virginia House-Wife (1984) that was reprinted from the original 1824 book, and annotated What Mrs. Fisher Knows about Old Southern Cooking: Soups, Pickles, Preserves, Etc.: In Facsimile with Historical Notes (1995), which was taken from an 1881 book notable as the first published work in America by a black woman. Hess was ahead of her time in recognizing that food history could be an important aspect of understanding history in general, and she was widely praised for her research methods, which were always based on primary sources.

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, May 22, 2007, Section 2, p. 12.

Los Angeles Times, May 22, 2007, p. B11.

New York Times, May 19, 2007, p. A26.

Washington Post, May 23, 2007, p. 8.