“Tell me where your grandmother comes from and I can tell you how many kinds of pie you serve for Thanksgiving,” she wrote in her book “How America Eats.”
Paddleford approached food like people: Each morsel had its own story to tell.
George Cornish, former managing editor of the New York Herald Tribune, mentioned that her work took readers on a trip down sensory lane.
“I had to send right downstairs for an apple,” he said, “and I suspect most of our readers felt the same way when Clem turned on the salivary juices.”
Paddleford died Monday in New York. The cause of death was not disclosed. She was 69.
Paddleford was born Sept. 27, 1898 in Stockdale, Kan. She grew up on a prairie farm but moved to Manhattan, Kan. She often helped her mother in the kitchen,…show more content… Afterward, she enrolled at Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
Paddleford met her ex-husband, Lloyd Zimmerman, in Chicago in 1923. The marriage was short-lived as the couple separated after one year, subsequently divorcing in 1932.
Later that year, a malignant growth on Paddleford’s larynx was removed. Her vocal chords were also removed, forcing her to relearn speech using different muscles in her throat.
In 1936, Paddleford began writing for the Herald Tribune until its final issue. During her 30 years there, she continued to freelance with other publications.
After a friend’s death in 1943, Paddleford fostered her friend’s daughter, Claire Duff Jorgensen. She often took Claire with her on assignments.
“I was her tag-along, sharing so many of these eating events,” Jorgensen said, “listening to her interviews, eagerly helping out the tasting.”
Paddleford expanded on her research when she earned her pilot’s license, which allowed her to quickly travel across the country and Atlantic Ocean, expanding her
