Ruth Reichl (January 16, 1948)

Reichl’s most impressive accomplishment was popularizing a certain type of California cuisine around 30 to 40 years ago, but she’s also done a lot of very wonderful other food journalism. I loved every one of her autobiographical volumes, and enjoyed her various book talks and other lectures that I’ve attended. I was impressed by the way her first autobiography, Tender at the Bone, made it clear that she was brought up in a New York Jewish family without directly saying so. Loving food writers as I do, she's a hero to me despite having presided over the decline of Gourmet. Maybe because she did.