Woman’s Day: April 1, 2025

Dear Friends,
As Women’s History Month draws to a close, we continue to work towards a future in which we celebrate the lives and achievements of women, past, present, and future, every day throughout the year.

What happened when M.F.K. Fisher met her publishers about her first book, “Serve It Forth,” published in 1937? Watch here as she talks about that encounter.
https://vimeo.com/1070726342
And then writers Ruth Reichl and Anne Lamott reflect on the impact Mary Frances made on the Women’s Movement. Watch them here.
https://vimeo.com/1070725620
(These are excerpts from our film.)

We are honored to have THE ART OF EATING: THE LIFE OF M.F.K. FISHER invited to be a featured event at next weekend’s “The M.F.K. Fisher Symposium for Women in Food & Storytelling” with an introduction by chef and cookbook author Joan Nathan. Shortly after her recent book tour for “My Life in Recipes” Joan watched our film and wrote, “I wish I had seen this movie before I interviewed Mary Frances in the late 1980s. It revealed her essence, a movie for every fan of M.F.K. Fisher to watch.”

(Joan Nathan recently found this rare and unusual photo by her late husband Allan Gerson ©, taken during a visit to Last House.)

The Symposium is in Nashville,TN and presented by Les Dames d’Escoffier. Featured participants also include Ruth Reichl, Toni Tipton-Martin, Mary Frances’ daughter Kennedy Golden, Marion Nestle, Grace Young, Abena Anim-Somuah, Kayla S. Stewart, and Kat Craddock.

Les Dames’ description explains, “An evolution of the M.F.K. Fisher Prize, this two-day event will gather women from the fields of journalism, food writing, media, PR, and beyond, from across a range of channels including print, digital, audio, cookbooks, and more. 
 
Our goal is to provide a space for mentorship and connection—many of the sessions will be small and interactive and there will be opportunities for one-on-one conversations between attendees and speakers.”
For more details go here.

The Sixth Annual ‘Last House Writing Contest’ is accepting submissions on the theme of WATER. 
A $500 prize will be awarded to the Grand Prize essay. 

Writers of all ages are invited to submit original, unpublished essays or short stories that explore the theme of this essential element. There is no life without water. Over 70% of Earth’s surface is covered by water, mostly saltwater, with a very small percentage that is fresh and available for use by plants, insects, wildlife, and humans. Freshwater comes in many forms as rain, snow, ice, and more and lives in soil, rivers, streams, lakes, and glaciers.

The contest honors the style and spirit of iconic American writer M.F.K. Fisher, who lived on the Bouverie Preserve for the last two decades of her life.” Learn more about Last House “


The M.F.K. Fisher Literary Trust posted this on their Facebook page and website, “Isn’t it amazing that 32 years after her passing, M.F.K. Fisher’s words and her legacy continue to inspire the tastes, passions, and artistic expressions of others?

We’re pleased to share news of the release of “Poet Of The Appetites” a full-length LP of original music from the UK band Extradition Order. The music is inspired by the lives and loves of M.F.K. Fisher.
The album’s artwork by illustrator Nathan Brenville is absolutely beautiful.

Vinyl and digital versions of the album and t-shirts can be ordered here.“

Movies featuring women in food are becoming increasingly popular. 
During Women’s History Month several were featured in the Sonoma and Napa Valleys where Mary Frances lived much of her life. 

At the Sonoma International Film Festival last week we saw MARCELLA, a new documentary telling the life story of celebrated Italian chef and cookbook author, Marcella Hazan, who, ironically, didn’t start cooking until she moved to New York. Wonderful footage of the subject and plenty of interviews are balanced with contemporary chefs, including April Bloomfield, preparing favorite Hazan recipes in their kitchens. Read an interview with the film’s director Peter Miller. And enjoy making Hazan inspired recipes using Marcella Beans from Rancho Gorda.  A special Marcella dinner featured dishes prepared by three of Sonoma’s award-winning female chefs—Tracey Shepos Cenami, Domenica Catelli, and Gia Passalacqua.  Visit the film’s website.
MARCELLA will play in theaters, video-on-demand, and DVD in May with a PBS “American Masters” broadcast in July. 

A World Premiere of SWEET STORY delighted sold out audiences as it follows Meg Ray, the owner of Miette, the Bay Area’s popular patisseries, as she takes on the challenge of transforming a café in the remote town of Rödlöga, Sweden. The delicious film is looking for distribution and surely will find its way to screens near you.

MISTURA is a drama about a woman pushed out of her comfortable life who decides to start a daring restaurant concept. The film celebrates Peru’s beauty, people, and food, with some spectacular dishes being prepared. Watch an interview with the film’s star, Barbara Mori. 
MISTURA is playing the festival circuit. 

Do not watch these films if you are hungry.
There were 15 food related films in the Sonoma Festival. Read Geneva Anderson’s overview about them and view trailers here.

The Napa CIA at Copia’s “Flavors of Film” series screened Vérane Frédiani ‘s THE GODDESSES OF FOOD on March 15 to celebrate Women’s History Month. The film features several of the best female chefs from around the world including Alice Waters, Dominique Crenn, and Barbara Lynch with rising new stars in the food world. Kara Nielsen, president of the San Francisco Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, hosted a Q&A with some of the Bay Area’s top female chefs, including Suzette Gresham (Acquerello), Kim Alter (Nightbird), and Liza Hinman (Spinster Sisters). It was followed by a dinner curated by the three panelists and Deborah Mullin. Find out how to stream GODDESSES in your home here.


We want to thank our generous new donors as we get closer to our financial goal that will pay for the balance of the rights to use photos and film footage thus making it possible to show THE ART OF EATING: THE LIFE OF M.F.K. FISHER widely.
Visit our website for information and some suggestions for new M.F.K. Fisher readers.

Sincerely,
Greg and Gary
 Valentines Quotes: February 14, 2025
“It seems to me that our three basic needs, for food and security and love, are so mixed and mingled and entwined that we cannot straightly think of one without the others. So it happens that when I write of hunger, I am really writing about love and the hunger for it, and warmth and the love of it and the hunger for it… and then the warmth and richness and fine reality of hunger satisfied… and it is all one.”
― M.F.K. Fisher, The Art of Eating

“Dining partners, regardless of gender, social standing, or the years they’ve lived, should be chosen for their ability to eat – and drink! – with the right mixture of abandon and restraint. They should enjoy food, and look upon its preparation and its degustation as one of the human arts.”
― M.F.K. Fisher, Serve It Forth

Dear Friends,
We were thinking of our supporters today and wanted to express our love and add a little romance, Mary Frances style, to your day.

Enjoy.
Greg and Gary
Visit our website for The Art of Eating- The Life of M.F.K. Fisher

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Dear Friends,
“Sharing food with another human being is an intimate act that should not be indulged in lightly.”  The Art of Eating

During the past month people gathered with family and friends for the traditional holidays. Around our table M.F. K. Fisher’s joy in bringing people together over good food and wine with lively conversation was a theme much appreciated. But she didn’t wait for a holiday. Every chance she could get was a joyous occasion for all.

“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight… [Breadmaking is] one of those almost hypnotic businesses, like a dance from some ancient ceremony. It leaves you filled with one of the world’s sweetest smells… there is no chiropractic treatment, no Yoga exercise, no hour of meditation in a music-throbbing chapel. that will leave you emptier of bad thoughts than this homely ceremony of making bread.” The Art of Eating

At every screening of “The Art of Eating- The Life of M.F.K. Fisher” one of the most often asked questions is about the images in the movie. There are 488 rare images and film clips that accompany the illuminating interviews and Mary Frances’s eloquent words. Her daughter Kennedy provided the film’s director, Greg Bezat, with hundreds of images to choose from. Some were family, candid or travel photos while others were taken by famous photographers including Paul Fusco, Hurrell, John Engstead, Janet Fries, and Man Ray. And more were found during extensive research. One of the many challenges has been to find the owners of a wide variety of images and negotiate for the rights to include them. Like Sherlock Holmes we are still on the trail for some of the mystery items.

When Greg first started his quest, he wrote to many film stock footage companies looking for certain kinds of scenes.  A most important one was specific: “Dijon, France, 1929-1933” where the newlyweds travelled to and discovered how wonderful food could taste.

And every one of them wrote back that they had nothing. He considered going to Dijon and trying to film locations where she lived, shopped and ate. The first restaurant they dined at and often returned to was Aux Trois Faisans. (read about Judy Merhar visiting it on her “Mincing Words Abroad” blog.)

Describing that first meal there in “Long Ago in France,”
“….even if we had never gone back and never learned gradually how to order food and wine, it would still be among the important ones in my life.”

But there was no budget for making such a trip to film. And then, months later, came an email from Gaumont Pathé Archives that they had found in a basement vault several reels of 35mm movies labelled “Dijon: 1929-1933.”  An even more unexpected miracle was how beautiful the never previously screened footage looked.

At a recent screening at the Jarvis Conservatory in Napa with the film’s director, daughter Kennedy, and publisher L. John Harris in conversation, some people in the audience told of their friendship with Fisher when she lived in nearby St, Helena for 20 years and then Glen Ellen in neighboring Sonoma Valley. Jessamyn West (Friendly Persuasion) was a friend and her daughter contributed comments that evening.

In the film and each time we are with Kennedy she tells new stories not found in Fisher’s writings, as do the many others interviewed in the film.

After that screening we were offered a challenge that would match a certain amount of money. It was met and we have now paid $18,000 for that French footage and some rare Mary Frances interviews.

I bring this up as we are at the end of 2024 because we still need $50,000 to pay for the balance of the images before the movie can be properly distributed and brought to a wider audience of both Fisher fans and those who have yet to experience the joys of reading her.

We are a 501(3)c non- profit which means a charitable tax write-off is available by donating here. If you want to discuss possible various options please write to Greg Bezat bezatvideo@gmail.com

Of course everyone connected to the movie is proud and the notes of appreciation we get confirm that feeling.
A few recent comments we wanted to pass on to our loyal readers:

“I wish I had seen this movie before I interviewed Mary Frances in the late 1980s.  It revealed her essence, a movie for every fan of M.F.K.  Fisher to watch.”
Joan Nathan, chef and author (“My Life in Recipes,” “King Solomon’s Table,” “Quiches, Kugels, and Couscous,” etc.)
http://joannathan.com/

“In the wake of Thanksgiving, and many large and boisterous family meals, it was the perfect moment to watch your deeply moving film.  Fisher’s life — her troubles, her depth, her hope, and her exquisite style and sensitivity — comes alive in watching this vivid and profound inspiration. Life will be over in a minute, for all of us, and yet, there are tangerines and kitchens and so many meals and gatherings to be enjoyed between then and now.  I just pulled “The Gastronomical Me” from off the shelf and will spend the afternoon with it.”
Ira Sachs, filmmaker (“Passages,” “Frankie,” “Love is Strange,” etc.)
https://www.irasachsfilms.com/

“A half century ago, when I was sick with the flu, a neighbor loaned me MFK’s book ‘The Art of Eating’” I lay in bed for several days reading through the entire book and never gave it back. Her writing is what inspired me to travel around the world and become a food writer. Now, all these years later, I had the joy of seeing ‘The Art of Eating: The Life of M.F.K. Fisher’ which is an exquisite production. It was wonderful learning so much more about her life.”
Rose Levy Beranbaum, baker and author (“The Cake Bible, The Cookie Bible,” Rise’s Ice Cream Bliss,” etc.)
realbakingwithrose.com

Celebrated food writer Ruth Reichl, who appears in our film and recently made a movie with Laura Gabbert, “Food and Country,” has an essential blog, La Briffe. She often refers to M.F.K. Fisher and recently reprinted a moving piece about her last interview with Mary Frances.
Read it here.

The New York Times recently published an article and discussion on “The 25 Most Influential Cookbooks From the Last 100 Years.”

And guess who was high on the list? 8. “How to Cook a Wolf” by M.F.K. Fisher, 1942 (Daunt Books. Courtesy of the M.F.K. Fisher Estate)  When Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher published her first collection of essays, 1937’s “Serve it Forth,” under the gender-obscuring initials M.F.K., she invented American food writing as we know it, making the case that eating should be a practice rooted in pleasure. Five years later, at the height of World War II, she published “How to Cook a Wolf,” a collection of essays and recipes about scarcity. Pleasure, she insisted, among instructions for dishes like sausage pie and the “moist dark loaf” she calls War Cake, was not merely an end in itself but an antidote to hardship. After the war, in the early 1950s, Fisher issued a new edition of her classic text, appending it with humorous marginalia that commented on her misfires as a cook and a writer, revealing a comic capacity to revise and revisit that she would rely upon for the rest of her life. In the conclusion of that addition, she offered what may be the defining axiom of her life: “I believe that one of the most dignified ways we are capable of, to assert and then reassert our dignity in the face of poverty and war’s fears and pains, is to nourish ourselves with all possible skill, delicacy and ever-increasing enjoyment.” By the time she died in 1992 at 83, she’d published 35 books, but in our era of pandemics and climate crisis, it’s her early meditation on frugality and resilience that’s emerged as a classic. — Michael Snyder.

Samin Nosrat, Ligaya Mishan, and Jenny Comita discussed it (published in an edited version):
Comita: This does in some ways feel like the ultimate book for our times — a manual of how to eat when you’re living through an ongoing disaster.
Mishan: I am the biggest M.F.K. Fisher fan ever but I didn’t think to include her because I don’t think of her as writing cookbooks. But I guess this counts.
Nosrat: There are recipes. And she’s just such a good writer.
Mishan: Probably the best food writer there ever was.

That is our news for now.

Please pass this on to your friends and family—or anyone you think might want to subscribe and keep up.
We have some exciting things to share with you next time.

Greg and I wish you a Happy New Year.

Sincerely,
Gary Meyer
Co-Producer
Editor/Publisher of EatDrinkFilms.com