Judith Huxley (1926, Boston – October 17, 1983,

Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor, and writer. He became the breakout cast member in the first season of ''Saturday Night Live'' (1975–1976), where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment b ...

) was an American journalist and

food columnist A food critic, food writer, or restaurant critic is a writer who analyzes food or restaurants and then publishes the results of their findings to the public. Terminology "Food writer" is often used as a broad term that encompasses someone who w ...

, best known for her biweekly column ''Table for Eight'' in the ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''.

Biography

Huxley, born Judith Wallet, was born and raised in Boston. She had a brother, George, and studied at

Boston College Boston College (BC) is a private university, private Catholic Jesuits, Jesuit research university in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1863 by the Society of Jesus, a Catholic Religious order (Catholic), religious order, t ...

and

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

. She started her journalism career at

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in Boston, later working for the ''

Boston Globe ''The Boston Globe,'' also known locally as ''the Globe'', is an American daily newspaper founded and based in Boston, Massachusetts. The newspaper has won a total of 27 Pulitzer Prizes. ''The Boston Globe'' is the oldest and largest daily new ...

'', the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The foundation was created by Standard Oil magnate John D. Rockefeller (" ...

, J. Walter Thompson, ''

Food & Wine ''Food & Wine'' is an American monthly magazine published by Dotdash Meredith. It was founded in 1978 by Ariane and Michael Batterberry. It features recipes, cooking tips, travel information, restaurant reviews, chefs, wine pairings and sea ...

'', '' The Washingtonian'', and '' Smithsonian'' on economics, books, mental health, politics, food, and gardening. She lived in New York City, where she was a publicity writer for the Federation of Jewish Philanthropies Appeal. Her column ''Table for Eight'' ran every other Sunday for two years in the ''Washington Post'' and was collected into book form and published posthumously by

William Morrow and Company William Morrow and Company is an American publishing company founded by William Morrow in 1926. The company was acquired by Scott Foresman in 1967, sold to Hearst Corporation in 1981, and sold to News Corporation (now News Corp) in 1999. The ...

. In the 1940s, she was national fund chairman and later president of the Junior Mizrachi Women's Organization of America's Hanitah chapter in Brooklyn. During her life, she was also a member of the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...

, the Cosmopolitan Club, and the Woman's National Democratic Club, as well as chairwoman of the Alliance Française de Washington's cooking program. Huxley traveled widely for work with her first husband, Roger Bordage, including to Paris, India, and Bolivia, the last of which was for a

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

mission. They later divorced. She then married Matthew Huxley and moved with him in 1963 to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

Journalist William Rice wrote in the introduction of the ''Table for Eight'' book that the Huxleys "conducted what, in another time, would have been called a

salon Salon may refer to: Common meanings * Beauty salon A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment that provides Cosmetics, cosmetic treatments for people. Other variations of this type of business include hair salons, spas, day spas, ...

." After 13 years of battling cancer, she died at her

home on October 17, 1983.

Books

References

American columnists 1926 births 1983 deaths 20th-century American writers 20th-century American journalists The Washington Post journalists Journalists from New York City American women food writers Boston College alumni Hunter College alumni 20th-century American Jews Jewish American columnists Writers from Boston 20th-century people from Washington, D.C. Writers from Washington, D.C. Jews from Washington, D.C. Associated Press people The Boston Globe people Rockefeller Foundation people People from Chevy Chase, Maryland Deaths from cancer in Maryland American Civil Liberties Union people Massachusetts Democrats New York (state) Democrats Washington, D.C., Democrats {{US-journalist-1920s-stub