Walkabouts: Informal Strolls with Marilyn through Places, Events and the Kitchen
This column represents a series of essays about my experiences, including those collected about learning, cooking, sharing, and eating food. Memories of food cannot be disregarded in someone’s life, at least, not mine. My proclivity for the kitchen with its smells and warmth has played a prominent role in my life. And I like to eat. We go through phases influenced by growth, people, experiences, education; all which impacted me and changed my way of thinking. But the sharing of food with family and friends, intermingled with interesting conversation, and the exposure to new and exotic tastes, and the warmth around the table, and lastly, the preparation of a meal—all build lasting fond memories.
Some of the columns featured here will consist of short vignettes from Marilyn Rockefeller’s book, “Memories Of An Appalachian Childhood and Beyond.” She is also working on a biography about The Rt. Hon. Joyce Band, V.P. of Malawi, Africa, and a children’s book, “Gilda and Zoot.”
Additional Column Posts (1 - 16 of 16)
A concert In the park
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - Sep 25Awaking to a day of frustration embroiled with lack of focus and an inability to get back into writing, I lay in bed, my mind surfing into ...
An escapade on Penobscot Bay
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - Apr 11“I need a boat.” Trying to meet ferry schedules back and forth from my project-house on Pascal Avenue in Rockport to North Haven Island became a ...
Mycophagous Maineiacs
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - Oct 16Just when I emerged from my summer busyness as the last of house guests left, sheets and towels washed; just when I had returned to my writing ...
Literati, tango and soccer
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - Jul 21As a graduate of the Spalding University master of fine arts creative writing program, I joined 40 students, faculty and other alumni for a 10-day ...
'She'll never last the first nor'easter'
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - May 26Before starting to write this article, I phoned Lewis Haskell of North Haven Island who, at the age of 90, has a reputation for a keen and ...
Walkabouts: A carpet of dogs, pots of ragout
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - Apr 28It was 9:30 p.m., I think, when the phone rang. I had taken a break from my computer and was sitting in a wrought iron chair on my Malabar, Fla., ...
French bread with Julia
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - Apr 07Ann Arbor, Mich., was an encapsulated sphere of a unique culture in the 1960s, a cradle of writers, artists, and musicians, with the cosmopolitan ...
The warmest room in the house
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - Mar 10From the age of 6 months to 9 years old, I lived with my grandparents on the top of one of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia. The town ...
Mrs. Moss' Bathtub
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - May 01In 1971, we made our permanent move from Ann Arbor, Mich., to Maine. We had two children: Jeff, four years old and Genevieve, two. Our summer ...
Reminiscences in a kitchen: New Year’s Eve dinner
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - Mar 12Before I knew what the house would cost, before I knew what the rest of the house looked like, and before I even knew if it was for sale or who ...
Sunday dinners
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - Aug 04Sunday dinners, starting at one in the afternoon, were important events at my grandparents' home in the West Virginia Appalachian Mountains. I had ...
The viewing
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - Jun 16"Honey, yer daddy's dead." My grandmother, Mama Nash, was breathless, blurting out the news as she came through the kitchen door. She turned to ...
Fast cars and Cuban cigars
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - May 05I knelt down in the grass, at the edge of the track, propping my Rollei on one knee, feeling the wind and the heat; the continuous noise surging ...
The perfect gift
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - Apr 14On one of those cold, windy, snow-and-ice-on-the-road nights in Maine, my husband, Bill, became ill at 2:30 a.m. at our home in Rockport. New in ...
Emergency rations
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - Mar 24Have you ever hit the wall in early evening when you should be preparing dinner? Didn't have time to stop at the grocery store on your way home? ...
Dispatches from Malawi
Get every child fed and educated, every woman equal rights
By Marilyn Moss Rockefeller - Feb 11As I read and watch the reports coming out of Haiti, I am reminded of the staggering images of orphans and poverty on my recent three-week trip in ...
