At the height of his popularity, how famous was James Beard in America?

He was a household personality, and his popularity really kind of ratchets up in 1955.

A writer for the New York Times, dubbed him the Dean of American Cookery.

He's really the one person that America looks to who has this long

historical knowledge about food in America. All while being deep, deep in the closet.

Yes, absolutely. I mean, deep, deep in the closet, at the same time that he's living this very kind of robust, pleasurable gay life in private, publicly, it's absolutely, absolutely a secret.

This is the Sporkful. It's not for foodies, it's for eaters. I'm Dan Pashman.

Each week on our show, we obsess about food to learn more about people.

If you've heard of James Beard, it's probably because of the James Beard Awards, right?

They're given out to some of the hottest restaurants, chefs, and cookbook authors in the country.

They've been called the Oscars of the food world. And yes, we heard the Sporkville have won three James Beard Awards because they also give them out to food media. But before there were the awards, there was the man himself. James Beard

was the first celebrity chef of the TV era, known for his many cookbooks and his catchphrase,

I Love to Eat. Sounds like a kindred spirit. Long before Guy Fieri and Bobby Flee or Emeril or even

Julia Child, there was James Beard,

teaching post-war America how to cook. Back in 2020, the writer John Berzall published a biography

about Beard, called The Man Who Ate Too Much. Before we get to Beard's story, I think it's helpful

to know a little bit about the perspective that John brings to it. John worked in professional

kitchens for 17 years before turning to food writing full time.

He's a gay cis man and has written a lot about queer figures in the food world,

shining a light on those who've been overlooked, misunderstood, or erased.

For John, the connection between food and queerness goes back to his childhood in the suburb of San Francisco.

As a kid, he spent a lot of time with his neighbors, Pat and Lou, a gay couple who sort of became surrogate uncles. They were around all the time. And in the early 70s, they'd babysit

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