Carol Field (March 27, 1940 – March 10, 2017) was an American cookbook author, writer, and librarian. She is known for introducing Americans to the variety of Italian breads with her book ''The Italian Baker''.

Education

Born Carol Helen Hart in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, to James D. Hart, head of the English department at the University of California, Berkeley and Ruth Arnstein. Field attended Anna Head School for Girls and

Wellesley College Wellesley College is a Private university, private Women's colleges in the United States, historically women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Wellesley, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1870 by Henr ...

, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in English in 1961.

Personal life

She married John Field, an architect who died in February 2017. Together, they had a son named Matt and a daughter, epidemiologist Alison Field.

Career

Field worked as a librarian at the San Francisco Public Library. She opened Minerva's Owl bookstore with a partner in 1962. After traveling with her husband to Italy, Field learned Italian and began to explore Italian cooking, though her first book, ''Hill Towns of Italy'' (1983), explored the history of towns in the Italian regions of Tuscany and Umbria. ''The Italian Baker'' was first published in 1985. A year later, the

International Association of Culinary Professionals The International Association of Culinary Professionals (IACP) is a United States–based not-for-profit professional association whose members work in culinary education, communication, or the preparation of food and beverage. It was started in 19 ...

honored the work with an award. After it had gone out of print, a bookseller from New York told her "It's like not being able to find

Jane Austen Jane Austen ( ; 16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817) was an English novelist known primarily for #List of works, her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment on the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century ...

," and Field worked to republish her best known work, releasing it for a second time in 2011. A prolific writer, she wrote for numerous publications including ''

Gourmet Gourmet (, ) is a cultural idea associated with the culinary arts of fine food and drink, or haute cuisine, which is characterized by their high level of refined and elaborate food preparation techniques and displays of balanced meals that have ...

'' and ''

Bon Appétit ''Bon Appétit'' is a monthly American food and entertaining magazine, that typically contains recipes, entertaining ideas, restaurant recommendations, and wine reviews. Owned by Condé Nast, it is headquartered at the One World Trade Center ...

''. In 1994, ''Italy in Small Bites'' was named the winner of the Italian Book

James Beard Foundation Award The James Beard Foundation Awards are annual awards presented by the James Beard Foundation to recognize chefs, restaurateurs, authors and journalists in the United States. They are scheduled around James Beard's May 5 birthday. The media awar ...

. Sixteen years later, ''The Italian Baker'' was designated one of the

James Beard Foundation The James Beard Foundation is an American non-profit culinary arts organization based in New York City. It was named after James Beard, a food writer, teacher, and cookbook author. Its programs include guest-chef dinners to scholarships for asp ...

's Baker's Dozen, a collection of "indispensable baking books." Field was elected a foreign member of the

Accademia Italiana della Cucina Italian cuisine is a Mediterranean cuisine#CITEREFDavid1988, David 1988, Introduction, pp. 101–103 consisting of the ingredients, recipes, and cooking techniques developed in Italy since Ancient Roman cuisine, Roman times, and later spread ...

in 1993 and the government of Italy named Field a Knight of the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

in 2004.

Selected works

*Field, Carol. ''Celebrating Italy''. New York: Morrow, 1990. *Field, Carol. ''Italy in Small Bites''. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1993, 2004. *Field, Carol, and Richard Kauffman. ''The Hill Towns of Italy''. San Francisco, Chronicle Books, 1983, 1996. *Field, Carol. ''In Nonna's Kitchen: Recipes and Traditions from Italy's Grandmothers''. New York: HarperCollins, 2000. *Field, Carol. ''Focaccia: Simple Breads from the Italian Oven''. San Francisco: Chronicle, 2003. *Field, Carol. ''Mangoes And Quince''. New York: Bloomsbury, 2001, 2008. *Field, Carol. ''The Italian Baker, Revised; The Classic Tastes of the Italian Countryside--Its Breads, Pizza, Focaccia, Cakes, Pastries, and Cookies''. Ten Speed Press, 2011.

Death

She died of a stroke at home in San Francisco on March 10, 2017, aged 76.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Field, Carol 1940 births 2017 deaths American librarians American women librarians American cookbook writers Writers from San Francisco 21st-century American women writers Wellesley College alumni Knights of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic Writers from Oakland, California 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers American women food writers James Beard Foundation Award winners American women non-fiction writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers