Margaret Visser (born May 11, 1940) is a writer and broadcaster who lives in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, and South West

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Her subject matter is the history, anthropology, and mythology of everyday life.

Biography

Born in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, she attended school in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

(the

Sorbonne Sorbonne may refer to: * Sorbonne (building), historic building in Paris, which housed the University of Paris and is now shared among multiple universities. *the University of Paris (c. 1150 – 1970) *one of its components or linked institution, ...

) and the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

where she earned a PhD in Classics. Visser taught Greek and Latin at

York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...

North York North York is one of the six administrative districts of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located directly north of York, Old Toronto and East York, between Etobicoke to the west and Scarborough to the east. As of the 2016 Census, it had a popu ...

, Toronto for 18 years. For several years Visser regularly appeared on the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...

's popular radio program '' Morningside'' in conversations with

Peter Gzowski Peter John Gzowski (July 13, 1934 – January 24, 2002), known colloquially as "Mr. Canada", or "Captain Canada",Mary Gazze Canadian Press via The ''Toronto Star'', August 23, 2010. Retrieved 2016-06-27. was a Canadian broadcaster, write ...

. Her writing has won many awards, including the Glenfiddich Award for Food Book of the Year in Britain in 1989, the

International Association of Culinary Professionals The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is a United States-based not-for-profit professional association whose members work in culinary education, communication, or the preparation of food and beverage. History The organizati ...

' Literary Food Writing Award, and the

Jane Grigson Award The Jane Grigson Award is an award issued by the International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP). It honours distinguished scholarship and depth of research in cookbooks and is named in honour of the British cookery writer Jane Grigson. ...

. Visser delivered the 2002 CBC

Massey Lectures The Massey Lectures is an annual five-part series of lectures given in Canada by distinguished writers, thinkers and scholars who explore important ideas and issues of contemporary interest. Created in 1961 in honour of Vincent Massey, the former ...

. Her topic was "Beyond Fate." Visser is married to Colin Visser, professor emeritus of the English Department of the University of Toronto. In 2017, Visser's 1992 book, ''The Rituals of Dinner'' was re-issued, on her birthday, and ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

''s review of it noted her wry humour. The review noted ''"Twenty-five years after its first publication, Visser’s book remains a delightful guide to how we eat, and why it matters."'' In 2018, the ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' cited Visser, on the etiquette of cannibalism, from her 1992 book on dining manners, ''Much depends on dinner'', when reporting on the bizarre case of a California high school girl who claimed she served her classmates cookies that contained her grandfather's ashes. In September, 2019, Visser was one of the experts interviewed for a documentary on what recent archeological discoveries say about

Mayan Mayan most commonly refers to: * Maya peoples, various indigenous peoples of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Maya civilization, pre-Columbian culture of Mesoamerica and northern Central America * Mayan languages, language family spoken ...

dining habits.

Publications

* , * * * * *

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Visser, Margaret 1940 births Living people Afrikaner people South African people of Dutch descent University of Paris alumni University of Toronto alumni Canadian radio personalities South African expatriates in Canada 20th-century Canadian women writers 20th-century Canadian non-fiction writers 21st-century Canadian women writers 21st-century Canadian non-fiction writers Canadian women non-fiction writers