Thanks, Betty
Tall. Long hair blowing in the wind. Long skirt. Long coat. And a kid (a kid goat) in her arms as an accessory. That’s how the August issue of American Vogue shows writer Betty Fussell at 81 years of age.
There I was in a Sanborns in Mexico City doing what everyone does in Sanborns, that is scan the magazines when I ran across this full page photo. It was part of (for Vogue) a rather refreshing series showing one woman of accomplishment for each decade of life. They had, for example, perhaps predictably, the model Kate Moss as the woman in her 30s, the tennis champion Chris Evert for the 50s, the amazing-sounding Roberta McCain (presidential candidate John McCain’s mother) for the 90s, and Betty for the 80s.
Well, the point of all this is not to analyze Vogue‘s editorial policy. It’s to take the occasion to say thanks to Betty. You can read all about her public accomplishments for yourselves. What does not show up in these biographies is her generosity to other younger scholars. So let me tell you a bit about the one case I know in detail, my own.
About ten or fifteen years ago, I was contemplating writing about food history. It was not then the acceptable pursuit that it’s since become. So I was casting around for others to talk to. I happened to be on the East Coast at the time and this person called Betty Fussell had just published The Story of Corn. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. So I wrote to her out of the blue asking if she had a circle of like-minded people in New York.
A week later I was having coffee with her in her book-lined apartment in New York. Within the month, thanks to her introductions, I was on good terms with two of the best food writers in New York. Within a couple of months I was feeding the Culinary Historians of New York spam musubi (what is this?, they asked not, recognizing the spam) and talking about my upcoming book on Hawaii’s food.
Since then, Betty and I have met when circumstances allowed: tea in Princeton, reuben sandwiches in San Diego, nouvelle cuisine in New York, pork charcuterie in Montreal, and corn snacks she prepared this January for a second talk to the NY Culinary Historians.
So heartfelt thanks Betty from me and everyone else you have encouraged along the way. And how wonderful to see your sense of style celebrated in Vogue.
Rachel, just now found this and thank you, good friend, for such an encomium and for your good memory of food details at conversation points. I’ve never been more pleased at meeting a new food person than you and never happier at seeing food history take off as a subject because of people like you. My heartfelt thanks all the way. My very best, Betty