Carol Truax (3 October 1899June 1986) was an American music administrator and an author of many cookbooks. She was noted both for her time as Executive Director of Fine Arts at

Colorado College Colorado College is a private liberal arts college in Colorado Springs, Colorado. It was founded in 1874 by Thomas Nelson Haskell in his daughter's memory. The college enrolls approximately 2,000 undergraduates at its campus. The college offer ...

(1945–1951), and also as consultant in Fine Arts to the

State University of New York The State University of New York (SUNY, , ) is a system of public colleges and universities in the State of New York. It is one of the largest comprehensive system of universities, colleges, and community colleges in the United States. Led by c ...

. As author, Miss Truax's most famous publications include ''Liberace Cooks'' (1970). She was the sister of author Rhoda Truax.

Early life

Born and raised in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

to Justice Charles Henry Truax of the

New York State Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the State of New York is the trial-level court of general jurisdiction in the New York State Unified Court System. (Its Appellate Division is also the highest intermediate appellate court.) It is vested with unlimited civ ...

and his wife, Caroline Sanders, Carol Truax came to

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

in 1920 to improve her health and for many years operated a prominent bookstore in

Colorado Springs Colorado Springs is a home rule municipality in, and the county seat of, El Paso County, Colorado, United States. It is the largest city in El Paso County, with a population of 478,961 at the 2020 United States Census, a 15.02% increase since ...

. In 1940 she became manager of the

Bookstore.

As music administrator

On the occasion of the

Stokowski Stokowski (feminine: Stokowska, plural: Stokowscy) is a Polish-language surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Anne K. Stokowski (1925–2020), American politician * Eugene E. Stokowski (1921–1979), American politician * Ferdynand ...

Youth Orchestra concert in June 1941 (at Colorado College), she was called upon to handle all promotional details. This led to her becoming first Promotional Secretary of the college, then Executive Secretary (1945) and finally Executive Director (1947) of the Fine Arts Departments - Music, Dance and Drama. During her affiliation with the college she served on the board of directors of the Civic Players, the Colorado Springs Symphony Orchestra and the

Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center The Colorado Springs Fine Arts Center at Colorado College (FAC) is an arts center located just north of downtown Colorado Springs, Colorado. Located on the same city block are the American Numismatic Association and part of the campus of Colorado ...

. Highlights of the Truax administration at Colorado College were the growth of the composition and piano departments during the residencies of husband and wife team

Roy Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise to ...

and

Johana Harris Johana Harris (31 December 1912 – 5 June 1995) was a Canadian pianist, composer, and music educator. She had highly successful career as a concert pianist, making numerous recordings and appearing as a soloist with almost every major American sy ...

(1943–48) and of the voice department under John C. Wilcox (1946–49); the residence of the LaSalle String Quartet (1949–54); and the excellent summer sessions which brought to the Colorado College campus such musical celebrities as

Burrill Phillips Leroy Burrill Phillips (November 9, 1907 – June 22, 1988) was an American composer, teacher, and pianist. Biography Phillips was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He studied at the College of Music at the University of Denver with Edwin Stringham and at ...

(1946),

Nicolas Slonimsky Nicolas Slonimsky ( – December 25, 1995), born Nikolai Leonidovich Slonimskiy (russian: Никола́й Леони́дович Сло́нимский), was a Russian-born American conductor, author, pianist, composer and lexicographer. B ...

(1947–49),

Louis Persinger Louis Persinger (11 February 1887, Rochester, Illinois31 December 1966, New York, New York) was an American violinist, pianist and professor of violin. Persinger had early lessons in Colorado, appearing in public by the age of 12. His main studies ...

(1949–50),

Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith (; 16 November 189528 December 1963) was a German composer, music theorist, teacher, violist and conductor. He founded the Amar Quartet in 1921, touring extensively in Europe. As a composer, he became a major advocate of the ''Ne ...

(1949),

Virgil Thomson Virgil Thomson (November 25, 1896 – September 30, 1989) was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music. He has been described as a modernist, a neoromantic, a neoclassic ...

(1950),

Willi Apel Willi Apel (10 October 1893 – 14 March 1988) was a German-American musicologist and noted author of a number of books devoted to music. Among his most important publications are the 1944 edition of '' The Harvard Dictionary of Music'' and ''Fre ...

(1950–52) and many others. She resigned from the college in the spring of 1951 to accept a position as treasurer of the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies and Director of Publicity for the Aspen Festival. Only two months later she was invited to direct a fine arts research survey for the 33 colleges of the

and was awarded a full professorship from that institution. Carol Truax later married Renaissance musicologist

Gustave Reese Gustave Reese ( ; 29 November 1899 – 7 September 1977) was an American musicologist and teacher. Reese is known mainly for his work on medieval and Renaissance music, particularly with his two publications ''Music in the Middle Ages'' (1940) ...

. From 1961 she was director of the Broadmoor International Theatre in Colorado Springs, booking such artists as

Liberace Władziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 – February 4, 1987) was an American pianist, singer, and actor. A child prodigy born in Wisconsin to parents of Italian and Polish origin, he enjoyed a career spanning four decades of concerts, recordi ...

, the

Smothers Brothers The Smothers Brothers are Thomas ("Tom" – born February 2, 1937) and Richard ("Dick" – born November 20, 1938), American folk singers, musicians, and comedians. The brothers' trademark double act was performing folk songs (Tommy on acoustic gu ...

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, and television personality, and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during ...

and many others. In 1968, a Gazette Telegraph entertainment columnist wrote, "Carol has been fortunate in being able to attract the big names each year, paying them less than they could command in some of the metropolitan areas, simply because they like it here. In most cases, the personalities are willing to take the cut in price because they could combine a vacation in beautiful Colorado Springs with a few days or a week's work." Whilst this was true, some entertainers also used Broadmoor as a testing ground for their act, before unleashing it on

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

As author

Carol Truax wrote or edited over 20 cookbooks, including many for ''

Woman's Day ''Woman's Day'' is an American women's monthly magazine that covers such topics as homemaking, food, nutrition, physical fitness, physical attractiveness, and fashion. The print edition is one of the Seven Sisters magazines. The magazine was fir ...

'' and ''

Ladies Home Journal ''Ladies' Home Journal'' was an American magazine last published by the Meredith Corporation. It was first published on February 16, 1883, and eventually became one of the leading women's magazines of the 20th century in the United States. In 18 ...

'' and was a regular contributor to ''Gourmet'' magazine. She also collaborated with

, publishing ''Liberace Cooks'' (Doubleday, 1970), a cookbook of recipes from the seven dining rooms of the flamboyant pianist and showman.

Selected publications

* The 60 Minute Chef (with Lillian Bueno McCue), Macmillan Co, NY, 1947 (hardcover) * Ladies Home Journal Cookbook (Editor), Doubleday, NY, 1960 (hardcover) * The Weekend Chef, Doubleday, NY, 1961 (hardcover) * Ladies Home Journal Dessert Cookbook (Editor), Doubleday, NY, 1964 (hardcover) * Father was a Gourmet, Doubleday, NY, 1965 (hardcover) * The Art of Salad Making, Doubleday, NY, 1968 (hardcover) * The Cattleman's Steakbook (with S. Omar Barker), Crosset & Dunlap, NY, 1970 (hardcover) * Liberace Cooks (co-author), Doubleday, 1970 (hardcover) * Gourmet Entertaining on a Budget, Doubleday, 1972 * The Soup and Sandwich Cookbook, Bantam Books, NY, 1973 (paperback) * Cheese and Wine, Ballantine Books, NY, 1975 (paperback) * The Woman's Day Chicken Cookbook, Simon and Schuster, 1977 * 500 Super Stews, Ballantine, 1977 * The Woman's Day Book of Thin Italian Cooking, Houghton Mifflin, 1978 * The Woman's Day Book of Salads, Dutton, 1980 * All About Steam Cooking, Doubleday, 1981 * Woman's Day Buffet Cookbook, Ballantine, 1982 (softcover) * Woman's Day Simply Delicious Cold Dishes, Doubleday, 1987 * The Woman's Day Book of Light Italian Cooking, Random House, 1988

External links

Colorado College Official Website

State University of New York Official Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Truax, Carol American chefs American cookbook writers 1899 births 1986 deaths American women chefs Women cookbook writers American arts administrators Women arts administrators Writers from New York (state) Writers from Colorado Springs, Colorado Colorado College faculty 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers American women non-fiction writers American women academics American gastronomes