Laurie Colwin (June 14, 1944 – October 24, 1992) was an American writer who wrote five novels, three collections of short stories and two volumes of essays and recipes. She was known for her portrayals of New York society and her food columns in ''

Gourmet magazine ''Gourmet'' magazine was a monthly publication of Condé Nast and the first U.S. magazine devoted to food and wine. The New York Times noted that "''Gourmet'' was to food what ''Vogue'' is to fashion." Founded by Earle R. MacAusland (1890–1980 ...

''.

Life

Colwin was born in

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

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 ...

, and grew up in

Lake Ronkonkoma Lake Ronkonkoma is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) in Suffolk County, on Long Island, in New York, United States. The population was 20,155 at the 2010 census. Lake Ronkonkoma is mainly located in the Town of Brookhaven, but has ...

, on Long Island,

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

and

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, the second child of Estelle Colwin (née Woolfson) and Peter Colwin. In Philadelphia, she attended the

Cheltenham High School Cheltenham High School is a public high school in the Wyncote neighborhood of Cheltenham Township, in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, located from the border of the City of Philadelphia and from Center City. Serving grades 9 through 12, Chelt ...

, which inducted her posthumously into its Hall of Fame in 1999. From an early age, Colwin was a prolific writer. Her work first appeared in ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

'' and, in 1974, her first collection of short stories was published. She was a regular contributor to ''

Gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by refined, even elaborate preparations and presentations of aesthetically balanced meals of several contrasting, of ...

'' magazine and had articles in '' Mademoiselle'', '' Allure'', and ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...

''. Her non-fiction books (''Home Cooking'' and ''More Home Cooking'') are collections of essays, and are as much memoirs as cookbooks. In the foreword to ''Home Cooking'', Colwin wrote: "Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers. In my kitchen I rely on

Edna Lewis Edna Regina Lewis (April 13, 1916 – February 13, 2006) was a renowned American chef, teacher, and author who helped refine the American view of Southern cooking. She championed the use of fresh, in season ingredients and characterized Southern ...

Marcella Hazan Marcella Hazan (née Polini; April 15, 1924 – September 29, 2013) was an Italian cooking writer whose books were published in English. Her cookbooks are credited with introducing the public in the United States and the United Kingdom to the ...

Jane Grigson Jane Grigson (born Heather Mabel Jane McIntire; 13 March 1928 – 12 March 1990) was an English cookery writer. In the latter part of the 20th century she was the author of the food column for ''The Observer'' and wrote numerous books about Eu ...

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David CBE (born Elizabeth Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and bo ...

, the numerous contributors to ''The Charleston Receipts'', and Margaret Costa (author of an English book entitled ''The Four Seasons Cookery Book'')," Colwin died unexpectedly in 1992, in Manhattan, from an aortic aneurysm at the age of 48.

Works

Her published works include ''Passion and Affect'' (1974), ''Shine on, Bright and Dangerous Object'' (1975), ''Happy All the Time'' (1978), ''The Lone Pilgrim'' (1981), ''Wet'' (1974), ''Family Happiness'' (1982), ''Another Marvelous Thing'' (1988), ''Home Cooking'' (1988), ''Goodbye without Leaving'' (1990), ''More Home Cooking'' (1993), and ''A Big Storm Knocked It Over'' (1993). The PBS series ''

American Playhouse ''American Playhouse'' is an American anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Overview It premiered on January 12, 1982, with ''The Shady Hill Kidnapping'', written and narrated by John Cheever an ...

'' adapted Colwin's short story ''An Old-Fashioned Story'' as a 90-minute film retitled ''Ask Me Again'', which aired February 8, 1989. Her last two books, ''More Home Cooking'' and ''A Big Storm Knocked It Over'', were published posthumously. She also appears in Nancy Crampton's 2005 book of photography, ''Writers'', which features Crampton's portraits of various literary figures. Colwin's husband, Juris Jurjevics, was the editor-in-chief of

Soho Press Soho Press is a New York City-based publisher founded by Juris Jurjevics and Laura Hruska in 1986 and currently headed by Bronwen Hruska. It specializes in literary fiction and international crime series. Other works include published by it inclu ...

for 20 years and wrote a novel, ''The Trudeau Vector'', published in 2003; her child, RF Jurjevics, is a technology professional and writer-illustrator.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colwin, Laurie 1944 births 1992 deaths Writers from Manhattan 20th-century American novelists American food writers Writers from Philadelphia People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania People from Lake Ronkonkoma, New York American women novelists 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers Novelists from New York (state) Novelists from Pennsylvania James Beard Foundation Award winners American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers