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Mary Frances Kennedy Fisher (July 3, 1908 – June 22, 1992) was a preeminent American food writer. She was also a founder of the Napa Valley Wine Library. She wrote some 27 books, including a translation of ''The Physiology of Taste'' by Brillat-Savarin. Two volumes of her journals and correspondence came out shortly before her death in 1992. Her first book, ''Serve it Forth'', was published in 1937. Her books are an amalgam of food literature, travel and memoir. Fisher believed that eating well was just one of the "arts of life" and explored this in her writing. W. H. Auden once remarked, "I do not know of anyone in the United States who writes better prose."〔Lazar, David ''Conversations with M. F. K. Fisher' at 22 (University of Mississippi Press 1992) ISBN 0-87805-596-7〕 ==Early life== Fisher was born Mary Frances Kennedy on July 3, 1908 at 202 Irwin Avenue, Albion, Michigan. She told Albion City Historian, Frank Passic:Rex was a co-owner (with his brother Walter) and editor of the Albion Evening Recorder newspaper.〔Reardon, Joan, ''Poet of the Appetites'' (hereafter ''Poet'') at 5 (North Point Press 2004).〕 In 1911, Rex sold his interest in the paper to his brother, and moved the family to the West Coast, where he hoped to buy a fruit or citrus orchard.〔''Poet, supra'' at 5.〕 The family spent some time in Washington with relatives, and then traveled down the coast to Ventura, California, where Rex nearly purchased an orange grove, but backed out after discovering soil problems.〔''Poet, supra'' at 5–8.〕 He next purchased and briefly owned the ''Oxnard Courier'' in Oxnard, California.〔''Poet, supra'' at 8.〕 From there he traveled to San Diego, California, and worked for a local newspaper.〔 In 1912 he purchased a controlling interest in the ''Whittier News'' and moved the family to Whittier, California.〔 Rex initially purchased a house at 115 Painter Avenue.〔''Poet, supra at, 15.〕 In 1919, he purchased a large white house outside the city limits on South Painter Avenue.〔''Poet, supra'' at 20.〕 The house sat on thirteen acres, with an orange grove; it was referred to by the family as "The Ranch."〔''Poet, supra'' at 20. The home has since been torn down and a municipal park named "Kennedy Park" now occupies the site.〕 Although Whittier was primarily a Quaker community at that time, Mary Frances was brought up within the Episcopal Church. Mary received a formal education; however, she was an indifferent student who often skipped classes throughout her academic career.〔Zimmerman, Anne, ''An Extravagant Hunger: The Passionate Years of M. F. K. Fisher'' (hereafter ''Passionate Years'') at 31–42 (Counterpoint 2011).〕 At the age of sixteen, her parents enrolled her in a private school: The Bishop's School located in La Jolla, California.〔''Passionate Years, supra'' at 32.〕 After one year there, she transferred to Harker's School For Girls in Palo Alto, California, adjacent to Stanford University; she graduated from Harker's in 1927.〔''Passionate Years, supra'' at 35.〕 Upon graduation, she attended Illinois College, but left after only one semester,〔''Passionate Years, supra'' at 36–39.〕 In 1928, she enrolled in summer school at UCLA in order to obtain enough credits to transfer to Occidental College.〔''Passionate Years, supra'' at 39.〕 While there, she met and fell in love with her future first husband: Alfred Fisher ("Al").〔 She attended Occidental College for one year; however, she married Al on September 5, 1929, and moved with him to Dijon, France.〔''Passionate Years, supra'' at 41–42.〕 Mary's informal education undoubtedly had a far greater impact on her writing career than her formal education. She loved reading as a child, and began writing poetry at the age of five.〔''Passionate Years, supra'' at 30.〕 The Kennedys had a vast home library,〔''Passionate Years, supra'' at 16.〕 and her mother provided her access to many other books.〔''Passionate Years, supra'' at 31.〕 Later, her father used her as stringer on his paper, and she would draft as many as fifteen stories a day.〔 Food became an early passion in her life. Her earliest memory of taste was "the grayish-pink fuzz my grandmother skimmed from a spitting kettle of strawberry jam.〔''Passionate Years, supra'' at 9.〕 Her maternal grandmother Holbrook lived with them until her death in 1920. During that period, Holbrook was a source of tension in the household. She was a stern, rather joyless person, and a Campbellite who firmly believed in overcooked, bland food.〔 She was also a follower of Dr. Will Keith Kellogg's dietary restrictions at the Battle Creek Sanitarium.〔 Fisher would later write that during her grandmother's absences at religious conventions: An early food influence was "Aunt" Gwen. Aunt Gwen was not family, but the daughter of friends — the Nettleship family — "a strange family of English medical missionaries who preferred tents to houses."〔''Begin Again, supra'' at 24.〕 The Nettleships had an encampment on Laguna Beach and Mary would camp out there with Gwen.〔 Rex would later buy the campsite and a cabin that had been built on it.〔''Begin Again, supra'' at 25.〕 Mary recalled cooking outdoors with Gwen: steaming mussels on fresh seaweed over hot coals; catching and frying rock bass; skinning and cooking eel; and, making fried egg sandwiches to carry on hikes.〔''Begin Again, supra'' at 26–29.〕 Mary wrote of her meals with Gwen and Gwen's brothers: "I decided at the age of nine that one of the best ways to grow up is to eat and talk quietly with good people."〔Reardon, Joan ''M. F. K. Fisher among the Pots and Pans'' (hereafter ''Pots and Pans'') at 15 (University of California Press 2008) ISBN 978-0-520-26168-6.〕 Mary liked to cook meals in the kitchen at home, and "easily fell into the role of the cook's helper."〔''Begin Again, supra'' at 29.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「M. F. K. Fisher」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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