They didn’t know me until I introduced myself as they came in the door but I received a warm welcome and memorable round of applause after my presentation at the Women’s University Club. I was very pleased. The text is at this link. The overview was my good fortune to grow up with four grandparents next door, which led me to writing two novels about cooking, wine, travel, aging and love: The Cooking Class in Kuala Lumpur and The Cooking Class in San Sebastian.

From my one lane dirt road beginning in Vero Beach, FL to now in 45 minutes included a few family anecdotes about Waldo E. Sexton, Nana, Grandma and Eva. I mentioned hero authors I quote such as Mary Oliver, Ann Patchet and PD James. I was ready with authors who never published until they were over 50, which include Julia Child, PD James, Raymond Chandler, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Frank McCourt, Richard Adam and Marjory Stoneman Douglas.

I set much of the action in the Cooking Class in San Sebastian in an art gallery because I like them and it’s a refreshing change from restaurants and bakeries. If you want to read other stories set in a museum or art gallery I recommend The Goldfinch by Donna Tart, The Art Forger by B. A. Shapiro, The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith and A Bed of Scorpions by Judith Flanders.

The lunch afterwards with my new friends was delicious!