Ken Bookman, writer on food
Ken Bookman, 67, of Bala Cynwyd, a journalist who turned a passion for cooking into a successful career as a food editor and cookbook writer, died Sunday, July 17, at his home after a long struggle with uveal melanoma, a cancer of the eye.
Ken Bookman, 67, of Bala Cynwyd, a journalist who turned a passion for cooking into a successful career as a food editor and cookbook writer, died Sunday, July 17, at his home after a long struggle with uveal melanoma, a cancer of the eye.
Mr. Bookman, known to colleagues for his razor-sharp wit as much as his finely honed culinary skills, was food editor at the Inquirer at a time when newspapers started covering restaurants and cooking as seriously as they did cops and courts.
In 1982, he took over the paper's newly designed Food section as the city segued from a cheesesteak-laden backwater to a trendsetter in fine dining. It was George Perrier, the famed chef who owned Le Bec-Fin, then the crème de la crème of America's French restaurants, who was responsible in part for Mr. Bookman's leap from the pressure cooker of news editing into the flambé.
Growing up in Rockland County, N.Y., Mr. Bookman was not exactly an adventurous eater, said former Inquirer colleague Elizabeth A.W. Williams.
"I don't think he had a strawberry until he was 25 years old," she recalled.
Mr. Bookman was hired by the Inquirer in 1977 and worked on the national, suburban and business desks. In the early 1980s, he became interested in cooking and took a course with Perrier.
When Inquirer executive editor Eugene L. Roberts Jr. heard that Mr. Bookman had bought a Cuisinart food processor - still a relatively exotic gadget for a home cook - he called him into his office. "Roberts said, 'Ken, I'm going to knock your socks off,' and offered him the job of food editor," recalled friend David Corcoran.
Mr. Bookman began his career as a high school sports stringer while still at Syracuse University. After graduating, he landed a full-time job with the Bergen Record in Hackensack, N.J.
His longtime partner, Ruth Adelman, said he loved to make people laugh. The late Inquirer cartoonist Tony Auth often sought Mr. Bookman's opinion of his work before it was published.
Another cartoonist friend was Cathy Guisewite, creator of the long-running strip "Cathy," whom he met in the early 1980s. One of her story lines came from Mr. Bookman's life. When the characters Andrea and Luke remodeled their kitchen, "that was based on us remodeling our kitchen," Adelman said.
Mr. Bookman was food editor until 1990. He then launched the department of new ventures, in which he oversaw the creation of about a dozen books based on Inquirer content.
He retired in 1995, just as his cookbook writing career was heating up. He and a freelancer, Andrew Schloss, had whipped up an idea for an article called "50 Ways to Love Your Liver." It was such a big hit that they did the same with chicken, pizza, and other cuisine.
Mr. Bookman suggested they publish Fifty Ways to Cook Most Everything, which had 50 chapters and 2,500 recipes. He coauthored seven cookbooks and collaborated on 24 others.
"He liked food," said Schloss, who called Mr. Bookman a mentor. "He was really passionate about writing. . . . He really believed that grammar was a significant part of expression on the page and that you could greatly clarify your ideas with grammar and punctuation marks."
If that makes Mr. Bookman sound schoolmarmish, his large circle of friends remembered him differently.
"He had a zillion friends," said Corcoran, "and part of what endeared him to people was his sense of humor. He had a really dry wit, he did magnificent imitations."
Besides his partner, he is survived by a brother, two nieces, and a nephew.
No funeral services are planned.
Memorial contributions can be made to the Cancer Support Community Greater Philadelphia, 4100 Chamounix Dr., Philadelphia 19131.
610-313-8232 @Kathy_Boccella