Julia Evans Reed (September 11, 1960 – August 28, 2020) was a Mississippi Delta born author, journalist, columnist, speaker, and socialite. Reed wrote several books on cooking, entertaining, and affluent southern lifestyle and culture.

Early life and education

Reed was born in

Greenville, Mississippi Greenville is the List of municipalities in Mississippi, ninth-most populous city in the U.S. state of Mississippi, and the largest city by population in the Mississippi Delta region. It is the county seat of Washington County, Mississippi, Was ...

, and attended the

Madeira School The Madeira School (simply referred to as Madeira School or Madeira) is an elite, Private school, private, Day school, day and Boarding school, boarding college-preparatory school for Single-sex education, girls in McLean, Virginia, United States ...

, a boarding school in

McLean, Virginia McLean ( ) is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place in Fairfax County, Virginia, United States. The population of the community was 50,773 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is ...

. She studied at

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

and

American University The American University (AU or American) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Its main campus spans 90-acres (36 ha) on Ward Circle, in the Spri ...

, both in

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 ...

Her father, Clarke Reed, was a businessman and Republican Party leader. Her mother, Judy Brooks Reed, is from a prominent and wealthy Nashville family. As a child, Reed's parents hosted and entertained guests such as

William F. Buckley Jr. William Frank Buckley Jr. (born William Francis Buckley; November 24, 1925 – February 27, 2008) was an American conservative writer, public intellectual, political commentator and novelist. Born in New York City, Buckley spoke Spanish as his ...

and

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

and

Barbara Bush Barbara Bush (; June 8, 1925 – April 17, 2018) was the first lady of the United States from 1989 to 1993, as the wife of the 41st president of the United States, George H. W. Bush. She was previously second lady of the United States fr ...

Career

Reed wrote her first article for the Washington Bureau of ''

Newsweek ''Newsweek'' is an American weekly news magazine based in New York City. Founded as a weekly print magazine in 1933, it was widely distributed during the 20th century and has had many notable editors-in-chief. It is currently co-owned by Dev P ...

'' magazine in 1980, covering the story of her former Madeira headmistress,

Jean Harris Jean Struven Harris (April 27, 1923 – December 23, 2012) was the headmistress of The Madeira School for girls in McLean, Virginia, who made national news in the early 1980s when she was tried and convicted of the murder of her ex-lover, Herm ...

' murder of partner

Herman Tarnower Herman Tarnower (March 18, 1910 – March 10, 1980) was an American cardiologist and co-author (with Samm Sinclair Baker) of the bestselling diet book ''The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet'' (1978), which promoted a high-protein low-carboh ...

. She continued with the magazine as a contributing editor and columnist. Reed was a columnist at ''

Garden & Gun ''Garden & Gun'' is a national magazine focusing on the Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is Lis ...

'' from 2011. She was also an editor and writer for ''

Vogue Vogue may refer to: Business * ''Vogue'' (magazine), a US fashion magazine ** British ''Vogue'', a British fashion magazine ** '' Vogue Adria'', a fashion magazine for former Yugoslav countries ** ''Vogue Arabia'', an Arab fashion magazine ** ' ...

'' magazine since 1988, where she wrote about politics and culture and profiled the Clintons and Bushes, also interviewing

Oprah Winfrey Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954) is an American television presenter, talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and media proprietor. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show' ...

for ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

''. She was a contributor to ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'', ''

Conde Nast Traveler Conde is the Ibero-Romance form of "count" (Latin ''comitatus''). It may refer to: * Counts in Iberia *List of countships in Portugal Places United States * Conde, South Dakota, a city France * Condé-sur-l'Escaut (or simply 'Condé'), a com ...

'', ''The Wall Street Journal'', '' U.S. News & World Report'', and '' Elle Décor'', among other publications. She expanded the Delta Hot Tamale Festival from one-day to a three-day event, exponentially increasing the economic benefit to her hometown. Reed opened Brown Water Books, a bookstore in the historic Wetherbee House in Greenville. She was co-founder of Reed-Smythe, an online business supporting independent artisans. In 2019, she was named Cultural Ambassador of Mississippi’s Arts Commission. She served on the board of the Ogden Museum of Art in New Orleans, the Eudora Welty Foundation, and the Link Stryjewski Foundation.

Personal life

Reed was married to John Pearce; the couple divorced in 2016. She maintained two residences, one in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

and the other in

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

, on a property adjacent to her childhood home. She died on August 28, 2020, from cancer.

Selected works

Her books include: * ''But Mama Always Puts Vodka in Her Sangria'' 2013 * ''Ham Biscuits, Hostess Gowns, and Other Southern Specialties'' * ''Queen of the Turtle Derby and Other Southern Phenomena.'' * ''The House on First Street: My New Orleans Story (P.S.)'' * ''Julia Reed’s New Orleans: Food, Fun, and Field Trips for Letting the Good Times Roll'' * ''Julia Reed's South: Spirited Entertaining and High-Style Fun All Year Long'' * ''One Man's Folly: The Exceptional Houses of Furlow Gatewood'' * ''South Toward Home: Adventures and Misadventures in My Native Land'' 2018 * ''S Is for Southern: A Guide to the South, from Absinthe to Zydeco (Garden & Gun Books)''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reed, Julia Evans 1960 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American women 21st-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American women writers 20th-century American writers