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Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher

メアリー・フランシス・ケネディ・フィッシャー

Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher

Aliases: Mary Frances Kennedy / M. F. K. Fisher / MFK Fisher
Pen Names: Victoria Berne（Pseudonym used jointly with Dillwyn Parrish for a light romance novel）

Profile

Gender
Female
Born
1908-07-03 （Albion, Michigan, U.S.）
Died
1992-06-22 （Glen Ellen, California, U.S.） age 83
Nationality
United States
Languages
English
Religion
Episcopal (raised)
Residence History
Albion, Michigan, U.S. → Whittier, California, U.S. → Dijon, France → Vevey, Switzerland → Bareacres (near Hemet), California, U.S. → St. Helena (Napa Valley), California, U.S. → Aix-en-Provence, France → Glen Ellen, California, U.S. → Lugano, Switzerland

Career

Occupations
Writer, Food writer, Essayist, Translator
Active Years
1935-1991
Memberships
American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
Influenced By
Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (through her translation and study), Lawrence Clark Powell (friend and early influence)
Influenced
Julia Child (influence on modern American culinary writing), James Beard and subsequent generations of food writers

Education

The Bishop's School (La Jolla)
Period: 1924-1925?
Country: United States
Attended at age 16 for one year
The Harker School for Girls (Palo Alto)
Period: 〜1927
Year of Graduation: 1927
Country: United States
Graduated 1927 (high school)
Illinois College
Period: 1学期（中退）
Country: United States
Attended one semester, left
UCLA (summer school)
Period: 1928（サマー）
Country: United States
Attended summer session to obtain transfer credits
Occidental College
Period: 1年在籍
Country: United States
Attended one year, left after marriage and travel to France
École des Beaux-Arts (Dijon)
Painting and sculpture (night classes)
Period: 約1930–1933（夜間講座）
Country: France
Studied painting and sculpture in night classes for three years

Awards

Election to the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
1991
Organization: American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters
Result: elected

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

Serve It Forth

1937 Gastronomic essays / Collection

An early collection of gastronomic essays that includes memories of time in France and reflections on cooking.

food culturememoryFrench cuisine

Consider the Oyster

1941 Gastronomic essay / Travel

A witty and informative exploration of oysters — their history, cuisine, and cultural life — mixing recipes and essays.

seafoodtaste memoryculinary history

How to Cook a Wolf

1942 Cookery advice / Essays

Written during WWII shortages, a practical yet literary handbook offering advice on stretching ingredients, dealing with scarcity, and sustaining life through food.

wartime foodpracticalitylife and food

The Gastronomical Me

1943 Memoir / Gastronomic essays

A memoir that intertwines personal history with reflections on food, notable for its sensuous and poetic prose.

memorylonelinesssensuality and food

The Physiology of Taste (translation)

1949 Translation (gastronomy classic)

A translated and annotated edition of Brillat-Savarin's classic work, reproducing the wit of the original and adding marginal glosses.

gastronomytranslationculinary history

Bibliography

  • Serve It Forth (Harper, 1937)
  • Touch and Go (as Victoria Berne, 1939)
  • Consider the Oyster (1941)
  • How to Cook a Wolf (1942)
  • The Gastronomical Me (1943)
  • Here Let Us Feast: A Book of Banquets (1946)
  • Not Now but Now (1947)
  • An Alphabet for Gourmets (1949)
  • The Physiology of Taste (translation, 1949)
  • The Story of Wine in California (1962)
  • Map of Another Town (1964)
  • With Bold Knife and Fork (1969)
  • Among Friends (1971)
  • A Considerable Town (1978)
  • As They Were (1982)
  • Sister Age (1983)
  • Dubious Honors (1988)
  • The Boss Dog: A Story of Provence (1990)
  • Long Ago in France: The Years in Dijon (1991)
  • To Begin Again: Stories and Memoirs, 1908–1929 (1992)

Adaptations

  • Radio segment "A Thing Shared" (script and audio excerpt from The Gastronomical Me)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
Lyrical, sensory essayistic proseMemoiristic voice that links personal memory with gastronomic reflection
Recurring Motifs
eating as an art of livingloneliness and companionshiptravel and the taste of place

Health

  • Parkinson's disease
    晩年（おおよそ晩年20年）
    Affected her late-life activities and contributed to long-term health decline.
  • Arthritis
    晩年
    Affected daily life and physical stamina for writing.

Legacy

M.F.K. Fisher is regarded as a pioneer of American food writing, celebrated for lyrical essays that connect food and life. She left numerous works that influenced modern culinary writers and cultural commentators, and contributed to regional cultural institutions such as the Napa Valley Wine Library.

Museums

  • M.F.K. Fisher - Last House (site and related displays) Glen Ellen / near St. Helena, California, U.S.

Academic Societies

  • American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters (elected)

Archives

  • M.F.K. Fisher Papers, Schlesinger Library, Harvard University

In Popular Culture

  • Frequently cited in newspapers, cooking programs, and cookbooks; often referenced in discussions of food culture.

Quotes

  • I do not know of anyone in the United States who writes better prose.
    Source: W. H. Auden (remark)
  • Calling M.F.K. Fisher ... a food writer is a lot like calling Mozart a tunesmith.
    Source: New York Times editorial (1991) (1991)

Trivia

  • Wrote approximately 27 books in her lifetime.
  • Continued productive writing after Dillwyn Parrish's death and published memoirs into late life.
  • Received acclaim for her translation and annotated edition of The Physiology of Taste.