Laurie Colwin (June 14, 1944 – October 24, 1992) was an American writer who wrote five novels, three collections of short stories and two volumes of essays and recipes. She was known for her portrayals of New York society and her food columns in '' Gourmet magazine''.

Life

Colwin was born in Manhattan, New York City, and grew up in Lake Ronkonkoma, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...

, Philadelphia and Chicago, the second child of Estelle Colwin (née Woolfson) and Peter Colwin. In Philadelphia, she attended the Cheltenham High School, which inducted her posthumously into its Hall of Fame in 1999. From an early age, Colwin was a prolific writer. Her work first appeared in '' The New Yorker'' and, in 1974, her first collection of short stories was published. She was a regular contributor to '' Gourmet'' magazine and had articles in ''

Mademoiselle Mademoiselle (abbreviated as ''Mlle'' or ''M'') may refer to: * Mademoiselle (title), the French-language equivalent of the title "miss" Film and television * ''Mademoiselle'' (1966 film), a French-British drama directed by Tony Richardson * '' ...

'', '' Allure'', and '' Playboy''. Her non-fiction books (''Home Cooking'' and ''More Home Cooking'') are collections of essays, and are as much memoirs as cookbooks. In the foreword to ''Home Cooking'', Colwin wrote: "Even at her most solitary, a cook in the kitchen is surrounded by generations of cooks past, the advice and menus of cooks present, the wisdom of cookbook writers. In my kitchen I rely on Edna Lewis, Marcella Hazan, Jane Grigson,

Elizabeth David Elizabeth David CBE (born Elizabeth Gwynne, 26 December 1913 – 22 May 1992) was a British cookery writer. In the mid-20th century she strongly influenced the revitalisation of home cookery in her native country and beyond with articles and bo ...

, the numerous contributors to ''The Charleston Receipts'', and Margaret Costa (author of an English book entitled ''The Four Seasons Cookery Book'')," Colwin died unexpectedly in 1992, in Manhattan, from an aortic aneurysm at the age of 48.

Works

Her published works include ''Passion and Affect'' (1974), ''Shine on, Bright and Dangerous Object'' (1975), ''Happy All the Time'' (1978), ''The Lone Pilgrim'' (1981), ''Wet'' (1974), ''Family Happiness'' (1982), ''Another Marvelous Thing'' (1988), ''Home Cooking'' (1988), ''Goodbye without Leaving'' (1990), ''More Home Cooking'' (1993), and ''A Big Storm Knocked It Over'' (1993). The PBS series ''

American Playhouse ''American Playhouse'' is an American anthology television series periodically broadcast by Public Broadcasting Service (PBS). Overview It premiered on January 12, 1982, with ''The Shady Hill Kidnapping'', written and narrated by John Cheever an ...

'' adapted Colwin's short story ''An Old-Fashioned Story'' as a 90-minute film retitled ''Ask Me Again'', which aired February 8, 1989. Her last two books, ''More Home Cooking'' and ''A Big Storm Knocked It Over'', were published posthumously. She also appears in Nancy Crampton's 2005 book of photography, ''Writers'', which features Crampton's portraits of various literary figures. Colwin's husband, Juris Jurjevics, was the editor-in-chief of

Soho Press Soho Press is a New York City-based publisher founded by Juris Jurjevics and Laura Hruska in 1986 and currently headed by Bronwen Hruska. It specializes in literary fiction and international crime series. Other works include published by it inclu ...

for 20 years and wrote a novel, ''The Trudeau Vector'', published in 2003; her child, RF Jurjevics, is a technology professional and writer-illustrator.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colwin, Laurie 1944 births 1992 deaths Writers from Manhattan 20th-century American novelists American food writers Writers from Philadelphia People from Cheltenham, Pennsylvania People from Lake Ronkonkoma, New York American women novelists 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American short story writers Novelists from New York (state) Novelists from Pennsylvania James Beard Foundation Award winners American women non-fiction writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers