When I devoted nearly a whole chapter to Dione Lucas in WWWE, I thought I was pretty heroic, resurrecting this once-popular but long-forgotten TV host from the archival dust pile. Of course others had written about her  – Laura Shapiro and Noel Riley Fitch spring to mind – and maverick viewers of the early TV Food Network might have seen clips of her 1950s show, but most people still didn’t know who she was. I’m happy to say that I feel a bit of a Dione revival afoot. When I was at the Northeast Popular Culture Association conference in November, Madonna Berry was scheduled to present “Dione Lucas and Post-World War II Domesticity” (unfortunately, the talk was canceled). And in the Winter 2011 issue of Gastronomica, antiques journalist Jeanne Schinto published “Remembering Dione Lucas.” Schinto’s article is full of rich details about Dione’s life and character (Schinto, too, spent lots of time at the Schlesinger Library mining Dione’s papers) teaching me even more about this fascinating woman. Australian researcher Jillian Adams is focusing on Dione for her dissertation, and I have another article about her that will appear in the Fall issue of Camera Obscura: Feminism, Culture, and Media Studies. You get the idea that she’s well worth getting to know.

You thought you could finish all your shopping by Dec. 25, which, incidentally, is less than one week away? Hah! And no time to shop this week? Fret not. You can still have a copy of Watching What We Eat delivered to you or the cheerfully decorated doorstep of your loved one with time to spare.

Have a happy holiday season!

Hi! Thanks for visiting my blog and – I presume? – for buying or borrowing and reading Watching What We Eat. You can see that I have not been updating in a while, but I love the design of this blog so much (courtesy of the talented Brett Heckman) that I just can’t let it go. And just maybe I’ll have something to post every now and again. So keep visiting! Because I still like to look at the Google Analytics reports to see from whence my visitors cometh – all over the world, it turns out. Since April 2009 the top ten locations (excluding North America) were the UK, Germany, Australia, France, Philippines, Italy, Spain, India, Netherlands and Poland.

Ciao! Eet smakelijk!

The cacio e pepe I am about to eat in Rome

Dear Suffolk County people,

I will be talking about Watching What We Eat at the Sachem Public Library* on Monday, March 14 at 7pm. It would be lovely to see you there!

Yours truly,

Kathleen

* which began as an 18-book women’s suffrage collection in 1914 and is now one of the largest school district libraries in New York State

That’s the title of the panel that I’ll be moderating next. Sat., 2/18, as part of the IACP regional conference. Panelists will be Allen Salkin, Troy Patterson, Sara Moulton, Peter Naccarato and Katie LeBesco. It’s not too late to register. The conference itself is 2 days long and boasts a fantastic line-up of interesting topics and people. Take a look and register at the Culinary Trust.