Pinner, Patty 1957-

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PINNER, Patty 1957-

PERSONAL: Born December 21, 1957, in Flint, MI; daughter of M. C. (an auto factory worker) and Ruth (a homemaker) Pinner. Ethnicity: "African American." Education: Earned a B.A. and completed graduate study.

ADDRESSES: Home—3333 Janes Rd., Saginaw, MI 48601. Agent—Lisa Ekus, 57 North St., Hatfield, MA 01038.

CAREER: U.S. Postal Service, Saginaw, MI, trainer, 1981-2004. Ern's Seafood (family restaurant), occasional staff member. Women Taking Action (community-based group), information specialist.

AWARDS, HONORS: Michigan Notable Book Award for Sweets: A Collection of Soul Food Desserts and Memories.

WRITINGS:

Sweets: A Collection of Soul Food Desserts and Memories (cookbook and memoir), Ten Speed Press (Berkeley, CA), 2003.

WORK IN PROGRESS: Another cookbook and memoir, How to Feed a Man; Sweety Pies: County Pie Recipes and Womanish Observations.

SIDELIGHTS: Patty Pinner told CA: "I enjoy my genre of writing because it allows me to explore and present an area of life that can be very spiritual and sensual. Domesticity (cooking, meal preparation) is an art that often gets lost in an attempt to appear modern.

"I am particularly influenced by women who convey feminine behavior and sensuality in the kitchen. I write to an audience of women who enjoy and recognize the power of a cooking woman. I write to women who find enjoyment in their kitchen work, not necessarily to those who view kitchens and the work done in them with resentment. For the most part, the women in my family went into their kitchens in full 'feminine' regalia: lipstick, pearls, high-heels, perfume, and an attitude that said what they were about to do was meaningful and necessary; and that, no matter how well a man could prepare the same meal, he couldn't bring the same level of 'art' to the dinner table that their nesting instincts and abilities allowed them to bring.

"I can't write unless I'm inspired or 'called' to the writing table. I've tried to set a schedule for myself, but if my muse isn't present, the only thing I might be able to etch out is a grocery list. Otherwise, I'm just sitting there, waiting . . . and waiting, and waiting."