Clementine Paddleford (September 27, 1898 – November 13, 1967) was an American

food writer Food writing is a genre of writing that focuses on food and includes works by food critics, food journalists, chefs and food historians. Definition Food writers regard food as a substance and a cultural phenomenon. John T. Edge, an American food ...

active from the 1920s through the 1960s, writing for several publications, including the New York ''Herald Tribune'', the ''New York Sun'', ''

The New York Telegram The ''New York World-Telegram'', later known as the ''New York World-Telegram and The Sun'', was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966. History Founded by James Gordon Bennett Sr. as ''The Evening Telegram'' in 1867, the newspaper began ...

'', '' Farm and Fireside'', and '' This Week'' magazine. A

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

native, she lived most of her life in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, where she introduced her readers to the global range of food to be found in that city. Her 1960 book ''How America Eats'' was an influential discussion of American cooking and eating habits.

Early life and education

Clementine Paddleford was born on a farm near Stockdale,

Riley County, Kansas Riley County (standard abbreviation: RL) is a county located in the U.S. state of Kansas. As of the 2020 census, the population was 71,959. The largest city and county seat is Manhattan. Riley County is home to two of Kansas's largest employer ...

, and graduated from Manhattan (Kansas) High School in 1916. She graduated from

Kansas State Agricultural College Kansas State University (KSU, Kansas State, or K-State) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Manhattan, Kansas, United States. It was opened as the state's land-grant college in 1863 and was the first public instit ...

in 1921 with a degree in industrial journalism. While at Kansas State University, Paddleford met and married engineering student Lloyd D. Zimmerman, separating within a year. In 1932 she underwent surgery for a malignant growth on her larynx that left her with a

tracheotomy Tracheotomy (, ), or tracheostomy, is a surgical airway management procedure which consists of making an incision (cut) on the anterior aspect (front) of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the trachea (windpipe). The r ...

tube in her throat, which she covered to speak, concealing it with a black ribbon. The operation left her with a distinctively husky voice. She moved to

, where she enrolled in the

Columbia School of Journalism The Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism is located in Pulitzer Hall on the university's Morningside Heights campus in New York City. Founded in 1912 by Joseph Pulitzer, Columbia Journalism School is one of the oldest journalism sc ...

and attended night classes at

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, th ...

. She covered expenses by reviewing business books for the business publication ''Administration'' and the ''New York Sun''.

Writing career

After a series of writing jobs, Paddleford joined the New York ''Herald Tribune'' in 1936. She also wrote for ''Gourmet'' Paddleford was a pilot, and flew a

Piper Cub The Piper J-3 Cub is an American light aircraft that was built between 1938 and 1947 by Piper Aircraft. The aircraft has a simple, lightweight design which gives it good low-speed handling properties and short-field performance. The Cub is P ...

around the country to report on America's many regional cuisines. Paddleford coined the term "hero" relating to a

submarine sandwich A submarine sandwich, commonly known as a sub, hoagie ( Philadelphia metropolitan area and Western Pennsylvania English), hero ( New York City English), Italian ( Maine English), grinder (New England English), wedge (Westchester, NY), or a spuc ...

in the 1930s, writing that one needed to be a hero to finish the gigantic Italian sandwich. One of her assignments was to report on the cooking and food aboard a

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

submarine, which brought her aboard the

USS Skipjack (SSN-585) USS ''Skipjack'' (SSN-585), the lead ship of her class of nuclear-powered attack submarine, was the third ship of the United States Navy to be named after the skipjack tuna. Her keel was laid down on 29 May 1956 by the Electric Boat Divis ...

in 1960 for a brief cruise.

Death

Paddleford died of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

on November 13, 1967, in New York City. She is buried in the Grandview-Mill Creek-Stockdale Cemetery near Riley, Kansas. " Clementine Paddleford: food writer, world traveler, hometown gal," by Janet Duncan Contributing, The Manhattan Kansas Mercury, Jan. 30, 2021
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Works

*''Patchwork Quilts'', (c. 1928) *''A Dickens Christmas Dinner'', (1933) *''Twelve favorite dishes'', with Duncan Hines and Gertrude Lynn (1947) *''Recipes from Antoine’s kitchen : the secret riches of the famous century-old restaurant in the French Quarter of New Orleans'', (United Newspapers Magazine Corp, 1948) *''A Flower for My Mother'', (Henry Holt & Co, 1959) *''How America Eats'', (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1960) *''Clementine Paddleford's Cook Young Cookbook'', (Pocket Books, 1966) Posthumously collected in: *''The Best In American Cooking: recipes collected by Clementine Paddleford'', (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1970) *''American Food Writing: An Anthology with Classic Recipes'', ed. Molly O'Neill (Library of America, 2007)

Notes

References

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External links

"Clementine Paddleford," Kansas Historical Society

"Clementine Paddleford: The Badass Lady Pilot Who Revolutionized the Art of Food Writing," by Linda Rodriguez McRobbie, Mental Floss, Oct. 31, 2015
{{DEFAULTSORT:Paddlefoot, Clementine 1898 births 1967 deaths People from Riley County, Kansas Kansas State University alumni American food writers Writers from Manhattan, Kansas New York Herald Tribune people