Richard Sterling (born in Sebastopol, California, 3 April 1953) is a travel, food and lifestyle journalist, as well as one of the foremost practitioners of the "literature of gusto". Originally from Northern California, he spent many years as a sailor, an engineer, and a diarist before becoming a journalist.

Early life

Sterling is of mixed British and German ancestry. He spent his childhood in the forested areas of Northern California where his family made a living in the timber industry. After the timber industry collapsed the family moved in several places in California. At age 18 he graduated at Vallejo High School. After a brief experience as lumberjack and

quarryman A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their enviro ...

he joined the U.S. Navy, where he spent seven years, mainly in South East Asia.

Literary career

He is a pioneer of culinary literature in English. He was encouraged in this by correspondence with the writer M. F. K. Fisher, to whom he dedicated his first book, ''Dining with Headhunters:Jungle Feasts and Other Culinary Adventures''. The author of more than a dozen books, Sterling has been honored by the

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 ...

for his food writing, and he holds the

Lowell Thomas Award Lowell Jackson Thomas (April 6, 1892 – August 29, 1981) was an American writer, actor, broadcaster, and traveler, best remembered for publicising T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). He was also involved in promoting the Cinerama widescree ...

and the ForeWord Award for travel literature. ''

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 d ...

'' book page dubbed him "Indiana Jones of

Gastronomy Gastronomy is the study of the relationship between food and culture, the art of preparing and serving rich or delicate and appetizing food, the cooking styles of particular regions, and the science of good eating. One who is well versed in gastr ...

" for his willingness to "go anywhere and court any danger" for the sake of a good meal and a good story. He is also the principal author of

Lonely Planet Lonely Planet is a travel guide book publisher. Founded in Australia in 1973, the company has printed over 150 million books. History Early years Lonely Planet was founded by married couple Maureen and Tony Wheeler. In 1972, they embarke ...

's award-winning World Food series. He has appeared many times on TV and radio in USA, Europe, Australia, and Vietnam. He resides in Cambodia. Prior to that he lived and wrote in Vietnam, where his food and drink column "Sterling's Saigon" appeared monthly in ''Asia Life'' magazine for 48 months.

Selected bibliography

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External links

Personal website {{DEFAULTSORT:Sterling, Richard Living people American columnists American food writers American travel writers American male non-fiction writers Writers from California 1953 births