World News | Julia Reed, Chronicler of Southern Life and Food, Dies a 59

Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. Julia Reed, who wrote about food and culture in the South and promoted her native Mississippi Delta, has died. She was 59.

World. (File Image)

Greenville (US), Aug 30 (AP) Julia Reed, who wrote about food and culture in the South and promoted her native Mississippi Delta, has died. She was 59.

Reed died Friday of cancer, the editors of Garden & Gun magazine said in a post on the magazine's website. She was a contributing editor to the magazine, which chronicles life and culture in the South, and had written numerous books about the region, including one about drinking and dining in New Orleans.

Also Read | Kavkaz 2020: India Not to Send Contingent For Military Exercise in Russia.

In a tribute on the magazine's website, historian Jon Meacham described her as a “tsunami of talent, charm, and energy.”

“She could write about anything and make it sing,” he said.

Also Read | Mark Zuckerberg Says Facebook Made Mistake by Not Removing Militia Post.

“Her distinctive voice was at once affectionate and arch—a tough combination to pull off.”

Reed grew up in Greenville, Mississippi, before embarking on a writing career that took her to Washington, D.C., New York and New Orleans. She attended parties with the likes of former Secretary of State and Army Gen. Colin Powell and former Vice President Al Gore, but was a champion of her native Mississippi, according to Meacham.

She built a house near her parents in Greenville and turned a local tamale festival into a gathering of writers, chefs and artists to raise money for affordable housing and development.

The governor of Mississippi and the state's Arts Commission named her a cultural ambassador in 2019 in part for her work with the festival, according to Meacham.

A chapter in her book, “Julia Reed's South,” eventually led her to dedicate an entire book on how to party and dine in New Orleans, The Times Picayune/New Orleans Advocate reported.

She called it “Julia Reed's New Orleans: Food, Fun and Field Trips for Letting the Good Times Roll.” In addition, Reed served on the board of the Ogden Museum of Art in New Orleans, the newspaper said. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)

Share Now

Share Now