The character of Avis is portrayed by Bebe Neuwirth in the HBO series Julia Child.
Steve Brown > On Sep 18, 2023, at 11:32 PM, Sara Mattes <samat...@gmail.com> wrote: > > ...that Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking would not have been > published if it were not for one-time Lincoln resident Avis DeVoto? > > Avis and her husband, Bernard, lived at 22 Weston Road, the “Donaldson House” > (historically the 1818 Hoar House) across from the Pierce House. > > Bernard was an author of a series of popular histories of the American West > (including the Pulitzer-Prize-winning Across the Wide Missouri); books on > Mark Twain; and a regular column, “The Easy Chair,” in Harper's Magazine. > > (More on Bernard and Avis’ work as eco-warriors, and their fight to save > public lands and our National Park system, in an upcoming post.) > > It was one of Bernard’s “Easy Chair” articles, an essay on the poor quality > of American knives, that was the spark of a life-long friendship with Julia > and Paul Child, and ultimately the US publication of Mastering the Art of > French Cooking. > > After reading the DeVoto article on knives, Julia sent a fan letter, from > Paris, to Bernard. Avis, who read all of Bernard’s mail, responded. That > was the beginning of a pen-pal relationship that led to Avis’s interest in > Julia’s culinary work in France and a life-long friendship. > > Avis soon learned that Julia was struggling to find a publisher for her newly > completed cookbook. > > Avis and Bernard had many friends in the publishing business. > > Avis first approached her friend and Lincoln neighbor, Paul Brooks, an editor > at Houghton Mifflin. > > But Houghton Mifflin had a failed attempt at cookbook publishing, so Avis > moved her campaign to another friend and frequent dinner guest, Alfred Knopf. > > Avis would wow Alfred with dishs that she then revealed to be Julia’s recipes. > > Knopf took a gamble on the yet unknown Julia Child, based on Avis’s urgings > and her fabulous dinners. > > And the rest is history. > > Come learn more about Avis and Bernard and their history as eco-warriors at > the upcoming event on Thursday Oct. 5 at 7 PM at Bemis Hall with Nate > Schweber, author of This America of Ours. This event is sponsored by the > Bemis Free Lecture Series, with the Friends of Minute Man National Park, > LLCT, the Lincoln Historical Society, and Walden Woods Project. > > > Sara Mattes, Trustee > Bemis Free Lecture Series > Lincoln Historical Society > > > > > > > > > > ------ > Sara Mattes > > > > > -- > The LincolnTalk mailing list. > To post, send mail to Lincoln@lincolntalk.org. > Browse the archives at https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/private/lincoln/. > Change your subscription settings at > https://pairlist9.pair.net/mailman/listinfo/lincoln. >
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