We need laughter. Now, more than ever. HG is saddened by the absence of columnist Dave Barry. He made HG/BSK laugh out loud. (The late Russell Baker of The New York Times made HG smile. But, no Barry induced belly laughs). Writers who evoke HG mirth are S.J. Perelman, Woody Allen, P.G. Wodehouse, Steve Martin (Too few written comic pieces, but they are priceless). Ludwig Bemelmans evokes gentle smiles. Gourmand HG likes to read about food. Best writers about food and dining are M.F.K. Fisher (don’t like her recipes); Alec Lobrano and Mimi Sheraton (read her book, “In My Mother’s Kitchen”). Calvin Trillin amusingly writes about food but his talent is versatile and far-reaching. His New Yorker profile of crime reporter Edna Buchanan is a non-fiction classic. A.J. Liebling’s “Between Meals” provokes the appetite for food, wine, Paris and sex. Two women (both deceased) are HG favorites: Marcella Hazan (her cookbooks are the most consulted by HG/BSK) and Nora Ephron (her appreciative critique of the pastrami sandwich at Langer’s Delicatessen in Los Angeles makes HG tearful as HG contemplates the demise in much of the United States of traditional Jewish heartburn heavens).
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