William H. "Biff" Grimes (born July 25, 1950) is an American food writer, former magazine writer, culture reporter, theater columnist, restaurant critic, book reviewer and a current

obituary An obituary ( obit for short) is an article about a recently deceased person. Newspapers often publish obituaries as news articles. Although obituaries tend to focus on positive aspects of the subject's life, this is not always the case. Ac ...

writer for ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''. He is the author of four books on

food Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...

and drink in the United States, including the recent work ''Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York''.

Early life and education

Grimes was born in

Houston, Texas Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

. In 1973, he obtained a

B. A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

in English from

Indiana University Bloomington Indiana University Bloomington (IU Bloomington, Indiana University, IU, or simply Indiana) is a public university, public research university in Bloomington, Indiana. It is the flagship university, flagship campus of Indiana University and, with ...

where he graduated with honors. In 1974, he received a

M. A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in English from the

University of Chicago The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, U of C, or UChi) is a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. Its main campus is located in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood. The University of Chicago is consistently ranked among the b ...

and in 1982 earned his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

comparative literature Comparative literature is an academic field dealing with the study of literature and cultural expression across linguistic, national, geographic, and disciplinary boundaries. Comparative literature "performs a role similar to that of the study ...

. He also received a Whiting Fellowship.

Career

In April 1999, Grimes was named restaurant critic at ''The New York Times''. Prior, he served as a reporter in the style department, where he wrote in the dining section since September 1997. From October 1991 until September 1997 he worked as a reporter on the cultural desk where he reviewed independent film, visual art, and books. Grimes joined ''The New York Times'' in May 1989 as a story editor and writer. Before working for ''The Times'', he was the executive editor for ''

Avenue Magazine Avenue or Avenues may refer to: Roads * Avenue (landscape), traditionally a straight path or road with a line of trees, in the shifted sense a tree line itself, or some of boulevards (also without trees) * Avenue Road, Bangalore * Avenue Road, Lon ...

'' from September 1986 to May 1989 while also contributing to ''The New York Times Magazine''. He was a copy editor for ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...

'' from April 1984 to September 1986. He also wrote on cocktails for the magazine. From April 1980 to April 1984, he was associate editor of

Macmillan Publishing Macmillan Publishers (occasionally known as the Macmillan Group; formally Macmillan Publishers Ltd and Macmillan Publishing Group, LLC) is a British publishing company traditionally considered to be one of the 'Big Five' English language publi ...

where he worked to translate the ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' into English. Grimes features prominently in the 2017 documentary, '' Obit'', about the New York Times obituaries desk.

Awards and honors

In 1998, Grimes was nominated for a

James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation is a New York City-based national non-profit culinary arts organization named in honor of James Beard, a prolific food writer, teacher, and cookbook author, who was also known as the "Dean of American Cookery." The prog ...

award for his work on a Dining article titled, "Is America Ready for Bunny Ragout?" In 1993, he was awarded the Press Club of Long Island award for his reporting for "Who Painted this Picture?"

Personal

Grimes is married and he and his wife live in

Astoria, Queens Astoria is a neighborhood in the western portion of the New York City borough of Queens. Astoria is bounded by the East River and is adjacent to three other Queens neighborhoods: Long Island City to the southwest, Sunnyside to the southeast ...

Bibliography

* ''Appetite City: A Culinary History of New York'' (October 13, 2009) * ''Straight Up or On the Rocks: The Story of the American Cocktail'' (October 2002) * ''My Fine Feathered Friend'' (May 2002) * ''Straight Up or on the Rocks: A Cultural History of American Drink'' (April 1993)

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Grimes, William Living people 1959 births Journalists from Houston Indiana University alumni University of Chicago alumni The New York Times writers American theater critics American art critics American restaurant critics Obituary writers