I’ve been invited to host one of the tables at the Author’s Table Dinner fundraiser that kicks off this year’s Tucson Festival of Books.
So, if you’d like an opportunity to hang out together and talk books (and Fred), you can now sign up for the cocktail reception and dinner, Friday March 11, online.
Click here to make your reservation now.
Please join us in Santa Fe April 1-2 for a very special weekend honoring Mary Colter, the design guru for Fred Harvey and creator of Santa Fe style. It’s a benefit for the New Mexico History Museum, organized by the museum and La Fonda Hotel, and I’ll be giving a new talk on Colter’s work for Fred Harvey, and her relationship with the underappreciated “Harvey Women”—Fred’s daughter Minnie Harvey Huckel, and his granddaughter Katherine “Kitty” Harvey.
The keynote lecture will be by Colter biographer Arnold Berke, whose excellent book I relied on to write Appetite for America, and there will also be a talk by Santa Fe architect Barbara Felix, who is responsible for keeping the renovations at La Fonda Hotel Colter-worthy.
Saturday evening, there will be a Q&A with Arnold and I, moderated by Fran Levine, director of the museum, and a gala Fred Harvey-theme dinner by La Fonda Chef Lane Warner. Those purchasing sponsor-level tickets will also attend a private dinner Friday night at Colter’s last home in Santa Fe.
Tickets are limited, so make reservations soon. Click here to buy tickets now.
Black Bart and I are looking forward to seeing you there.
Just saw this notice for the Rail Readers Book Club in Las Cruces, NM, who will be discussing Appetite for America over the next two months!
Wish I could be there (although I’ll reach out to them and see if I can join the conversation by phone–which I’m available to do for other book groups who want to talk Fred.)
Rail Readers Book Club
Wednesday January 12, 2011 at 11:00am
Las Cruces Railroad Museum
351 North Mesilla Street, Las Cruces, New Mexico 88001
The Rail Readers Book Club meets at the Las Cruces Railroad Museum on the 2nd Wednesday of each month at 11:00 am. On January 12, 2011, we will discuss Part I of “Appetite for America”. This biography of Fred Harvey was written by Stephen Fried, who obtained exclusive access to many Harvey family documents. Fred Harvey was much more than a man – he built an empire that had lasting impact on many aspects of life in America today.
Part II will be discussed in February.
Please R.S.V.P. by calling 647-4480. The museum is located at 351 N. Mesilla Street, at the intersection of Las Cruces Ave.
One of my longtime favorite film writers, Leonard Maltin, reached out to let me know he had spent much of his recent cruise through the Panama Canal immersed in reading Appetite for America. If you check out his blog post on it today, you’ll see his enthusiasm for the book and Fred.
He writes about his Princess cruise (during which he lectures on film) and the four books he got a chance to read during the journey: “… best of all, a magnificent volume that made a number of 2010 ten best lists, Stephen Fried’s Appetite for America, the saga of Fred Harvey and how he civilized the West with fine dining and well-trained waitresses known as Harvey Girls. I’d recommend them all, but the Harvey book is a particular gem.”
Happy Harvey New Year, Leonard. I’ll look for you at the rapidly growing Fred Harvey section on ebay.
Happy Harvey New Year! January 2011 is the 135th anniversary of the founding of the Fred Harvey/Santa Fe hospitality empire; this spring and summer marks the 85th anniversary of Fred Harvey’s presence in Santa Fe, taking over La Fonda Hotel; and this fall will also mark the 110th anniversary of the historic railway to the Grand Canyon, which is still running!
Trying to decide what to download on your new e-book reader—or gifting e-books to a new Kindle, iPad or Nook owner? Keep in mind that Appetite for America: How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire that Civilized the Wild West comes very highly recommended. It was recently selected as:
Wall Street Journal 10 Best Books of the Year
Philadelphia Inquirer 10 Best Books of the Year
Amazon.com Editor’s Choice 10 Best Business Books of the Year
Southwest Books of the Year
Kirkus Reviews Best Books of the Year
To order a copy of the Appetite for America e-book, click here.
Join me at the James Beard House in New York for a Beard on Books lunch, Wednesday February 9 at noon. For information and reservations, click here.
Suggested donation: $20 for nonstudents
Event Location: The Beard House, 167 West 12th Street, NYC
Call 212.627.2308 to reserve.
The Wall Street Journal has selected Appetite for America one of the ten best books of the year–in a roundup of the books “most loved by our critics.”
During the writing and publication of Appetite for America, we uncovered hundreds of never-before-published recipes by Fred Harvey chefs, some dating back to the 1880s. Here are a few “new” holiday favorites, directly from old Fred Harvey company cookbooks.
Happy Harvey Holidays!
DIRECTIONS FOR COOKING THE CELEBRATED VIRGINIA HAM
Soak the ham in cold water the night before cooking then wash thoroughly with cold or tepid water. Place in boiler of cold water sufficiently full to cover it. Then let it boil slowly or simmer one half hour to every pound of ham. In baking be very careful in taking off the skin (which should be done when the ham is hot) not to tear the fat. Then sprinkle thickly with cracker dust, and let it stand in the oven until it becomes thoroughly browned. Have your carving knife very sharp and cut in thin slices. The ham will be better if cold.
PRIME RIB OF BEEF AU JUS, YORKSHIRE PUDDING
Roast a trimmed seven ribs of beef, weighing about 38 lbs., in a moderate oven for 2-1/2 hours. Remove grease from roast pan, dilute with good stock, broth or bouillon. Let simmer and strain through a fine cloth. Prepare YORKSHIRE PUDDING by mixing one cup milk and one cup flour. Add a pinch of salt. Two beaten eggs, one-half cup chopped beef suet, and one-half teaspoon baking powder. Bake in shallow pan in moderate oven with beef drippings, and out in squares.
PLUM PUDDING WITH BRANDY SAUCE
Mix one pound of raisins, one pound of currants, one pound of chopped suet, one pound of grated bread, one-half pound of flour, one-half pound of “C” sugar, one ounce of candied citron, one ounce of candied lemon peel, one ounce of blanched almonds, chopped fine, three grated nutmegs, five eggs, a little salt, and the rind and juice of one lemon. Mix with sweet cream until a spoon will stand up in the middle. Boil five or six hours. Add two wine glasses of brandy, if desired, and serve with brandy sauce. (This dish was served on the inaugural run of the Fred Harvey–George Pullman dining car.)
MOTHER’S FRUIT CAKE
Three cupfuls of fried apples, three cupfuls of New Orleans molasses, three cupfuls of flour, one cupful of butter, one cup sugar, three eggs, one tsp cloves, one tsp allspice, one tsp soda, 2 tsp of cinnamon, ¼ lb orange and lemon peel mixed, two pounds raisins, one pound currants. Put your apples to soak overnight. In the morning wash, pick and chop. Add the molasses and boil until tender. When perfectly cold, add the other ingredients. Bake in a steady oven until done.
DARK FRUIT CAKE
1 lb. butter
1 lb. sugar
1-1/4 lb. flour
8 eggs
2 oz. rum
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 pt. molasses
1/2 lb. nuts
1 lb shredded citron and orange peel
1 lb. raisins
1 lb. currant.
1 grated lemon rind
1-1/2 oz. combined grated mace, nutmeg,
cinnamon, ginger, cloves and allspice.
Beat butter and sugar until creamy. Gradually add eggs, one at a time, beating continuously. Add molasses, sifted flour and baking powder mixed, all fruit, spices and rum flavoring. Mix thoroughly, fill into buttered pound cake molds, and bake in slow oven for about 2-1/2 to 3 hrs.
Terrific new review of Appetite for America in The Objective Standard–a smart academic journal for followers of Ayn Randian thinking, and a favorite of tea partiers (which just goes to show how Fred can reach across the aisle.)
Here’s a quote:
“A feast for the soul … fascinating and entertaining … In Appetite for America, Stephen Fried skillfully tells a truly American story of rags to riches in a period during which our country was at her freest, when men could make vast fortunes via intelligence and hard work, practically unhindered by laws beyond those that govern the free market … Fried peppers the book with fascinating tales related to the railroads’ westward expansion … Although these often appear to be digressions, they serve wonderfully to paint a picture of what America was like when Harvey built and expanded his hospitality empire.”
–The Objective Standard
Thanks to my hometown Philadelphia Inquirer for selecting Appetite for America as one of the best books of 2010.
In other year-end Fred booklisting, the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson published the Southwest Books of the Year: Best Reading 2010 list. (Southwest Books of the Year was, for years, something the Star did itself–now the selection process is done by the AZ Historical Society and the Pima County Library, in cahoots with the Tucson Festival of Books.)
Appetite for America tops the list of Southwest Books of the Year, in the 33rd annual competition run by the Arizona Historical Society and the Pima County Library.
“A terrific read and a fascinating study of American entrepreneurship and culture,” said panelist Bruce Dinges.
Thanks so much to the Southwest Books of the Year committee, and I hope to meet many of you in Tucson in March at the Festival of Books!
Kirkus Reviews has selected Appetite for America as one of the top nonfiction books of 2010. It was named to a special list of books that didn’t originally get starred reviews, but ended up among the best of the year.
On this list of “nearly-starred”–which, for those of you not hip to the publishing lingo, means the books got positive reviews but not “starred” reviews–Fred finds himself in good company, with “The Emperor of All Maladies” and two books by friends, Jon Eig’s “Get Capone” and Bob Love’s “The Big Oom.”
Thanks to Kirkus Reviews for the holiday gift. And, if you’re curious, here’s a link to their original review.
A great holiday gift for any Fredhead or Americana-fan, the Waynoka, Oklahoma Harvey House museum has just printed their wonderful 2011 calendar, which uses their excellent photos of Harvey Girls and other Harvey employees at work and play–arguably the best collection in the country.
You can order one—or more—at just $7.50 each, $3 for shipping and handling, by mailing orders to Museum Gift Shop, PO Box 193, Waynoka, OK 73860 or calling (580) 824-1886. I believe they will soon also offer a way to purchase online–when they do, I’ll post the info.
All proceeds support this little gem of a museum.
Here is the cover and a page from the delightful calendar.
Check out the new book, Letters to Jud, by Don Alderman–a good guy and Texas trainiac with whom I did an event at the Frisco Heritage Museum outside of Dallas–because it was just selected to be part of the IUniverse Rising Star Series.
