Jeanne Voltz (November 20, 1920 – January 15, 2002) was an American food journalist, editor, and cookbook author. She was food editor for the ''
Miami Herald'' and the ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'', two of the most influential food sections in the country during her tenure in the 1950s and 1960s. She won three
James Beard awards
The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media award ...
for her cookbooks.
Early life and education
Voltz was born Jeanne Appleton on November 20, 1920 (or possibly in 1921), in
Collinsville, Alabama
Collinsville is a town in DeKalb and Cherokee counties in the U.S. state of Alabama. It was incorporated in 1887. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,983.
Collinsville's largest employer is Koch Foods. It is a poultry plant that employee ...
.
Her parents were James Lamar and Marie (''née'' Sewell) Appleton.
She received an
AB in political science and history from the
University of Montevallo
The University of Montevallo is a public university in Montevallo, Alabama. Founded on October 12, 1896, the university is Alabama's only public liberal arts college and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. The University of M ...
(the Alabama College for Women) in 1942, planning to become a foreign correspondent.
Later she attended the
Academie Cordon Bleu (1960) and studied food, wine, and civilization at
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...
in 1970.
Career
Voltz started working in journalism in 1940 while in college.
She started her career as a
correspondent
A correspondent or on-the-scene reporter is usually a journalist or commentator for a magazine, or an agent who contributes reports to a newspaper, or radio or television news, or another type of company, from a remote, often distant, locati ...
at the
''Birmingham News'' from 1940 to 1942 and, after graduating from college, moved to the
''Mobile Press-Register'', where from 1942 to 1945 she was a general assignment reporter.
At some point Voltz started using the
byline
The byline (or by-line in British English) on a newspaper or magazine article gives the name of the writer of the article. Bylines are commonly placed between the headline and the text of the article, although some magazines (notably ''Reader's ...
"Marian Manners"; at some point in her career she started using her own name.
She moved to the
''Miami Herald'' in 1947, working with
Marjorie Paxson under
Dorothy Jurney, and was food editor from 1951 to 1960.
Like most female journalists of the time, she was limited to working in the
women's pages, but was not interested in covering
society
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Soci ...
, fashion or
club news.
Women's pages at the time focused on "the Four Fs": family, fashion, food, furnishings; Voltz ended up covering food.
Voltz, after receiving the assignment, had to teach herself about food and cooking; she concentrated in particular on the food of the
South.
''The Herald'' was one of the most influential food sections in the country during her tenure.
Voltz created the food section for the
''Los Angeles Times'' and was food editor from 1960 to 1973.
Her condition for accepting the job was the ''Times'' moving the food section out of the advertising department and into the newsroom.
Like the ''Herald'', the ''LA Times'' food section was one of the country's most influential during her time there.
Her stories focused not just on recipes but on
news issues such as food safety, consumer issues, studies of the food industry, and food in society.
Voltz became food editor at
''Women's Day'', in an unusual move from newspapers to magazine, from 1973 until 1983; she remained at the magazine until her retirement in 1984.
While at ''Women's Day'' she promoted the concept of
Southern cuisine
The cuisine of the Southern United States encompasses diverse food traditions of several regions, including Tidewater, Appalachian, Lowcountry, Cajun, Creole, and Floribbean cuisine. In recent history, elements of Southern cuisine have spread t ...
, which was unfashionable at the time, as a valid cuisine.
According to food writer Jean Anderson, she "brought ''Woman's Day'' into the modern age" by introducing more sophisticated recipes.
While at ''Women's Day'' she was a founding member of the local chapter of
Les Dames d'Escoffier Les Dames d'Escoffier is an American society of professional women involved in the food, fine beverage, and hospitality industries.
History
Les Dames d'Escoffier is a leadership culinary organization composed of women who have not only achieved su ...
.
In retirement
Voltz was active in her retirement in the
Society for the Preservation of Southern Food
A society is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Socie ...
.
Books
Voltz wrote multiple cookbooks, three of which won James Beard awards.
Bibliography
* ''Famous Florida Recipes (''1954)
* ''The California Cookbook'' (1970)
* ''The L.A. Gourmet: Favorite Recipes from Famous Los Angeles Restaurants'' (1971) with Burks Hamner
* ''The Los Angeles Times Natural Food Cookbook'' (1973)
* ''The Flavor of the South; Delicacies and Staples of Southern Cuisine'' (1977)
* ''How to Turn a Passion for Food into Profit'' (1979)
* ''Gifts from a Country Kitchen'' (1984)
* ''Barbecued Ribs, Smoked Butts and Other Great Feeds'' (1985)
* ''Community Suppers and Other Glorious Repasts'' (1987)
* ''The Country Ham Book'' (1999)
Recognition
Voltz won three James Beard awards, considered the highest recognition in the US culinary world, for her books ''Barbecued Ribs and Other Great Feeds'', ''Flavor of the South'', and ''California Cookbook''.
She won six
Vesta Awards
Vesta may refer to:
Fiction and mythology
* Vesta (mythology), Roman goddess of the hearth and home
* Vesta (Marvel Comics), a Marvel Comics character
* Sailor Vesta, a character in ''Sailor Moon''
Brands and products
* Lada Vesta, a car from Rus ...
, considered the most prestigious recognition for US newspaper food editing and writing.
She won two
Tastemaker Awards for her regional cookbooks.
Impact
According to the ''Los Angeles Times'', Voltz was "one of the first newspaper food editors of the modern era"; previously, most newspaper food sections were created around advertising needs and some newspaper food writers and editors were part of the advertising department.
According to journalism historian
Kimberly Wilmot Voss
Kimberly or Kimberley may refer to:
Places and historical events
Australia
* Kimberley (Western Australia)
** Roman Catholic Diocese of Kimberley
* Kimberley Warm Springs, Tasmania
* Kimberley, Tasmania a small town
* County of Kimberley, ...
, Voltz was "a groundbreaking food editor" at the ''Times''.
Culinarian Terry Ford described her as "the best-known food expert you've probably never heard of".
Voltz's book ''Barbecued Ribs, Smoked Butts and Other Great Feeds'' was one of the first to approach
barbecue as a valid cuisine style.
Personal life
Voltz married Luther Manship Voltz, a newspaper editor, on July 31, 1943.
They had two children.
The couple divorced amicably in the 1980s.
She married Frank Barnett MacKnight on August 6, 1988.
Voltz was living in
Pittsboro, North Carolina at the time of her death from
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 January 15, 2002.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Voltz, Jeanne
1920s births
2002 deaths
20th-century American journalists
20th-century American women journalists
American food writers
American cookbook writers
Miami Herald people
Los Angeles Times people
University of Montevallo alumni
University of California, Los Angeles alumni
James Beard Foundation Award winners
American newspaper editors
Women's page journalists
Women cookbook writers