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Tuesday, October 23, 2018



Before Jane Snow came along, there was Glenna Snow as the BJ’s super food writer.

In between was Polly Paffilas, Charlene Nevada and Connie Bloom.

Glenna Snow’s 1944 cookbook (she was called a “home economics editor” in those days, not a food writer, but did the same thing) was titled “Glenna Snow’s Cook Book” although it really was a compilation of recipes submitted by BJ readers from 1932 to 1944. It was reprinted by the University of Akron Press in 2010.

Hungarian and German recipes out-numbered any other national dishes.

Glenna retired from the BJ in 1944.

According to Jennifer Droblyen, who has the cookbook by Glenna handed down to Jennifer by her parents, there are more than 3,000 recipes in the book. If you cooked one recipe a day it would take you more than eight years to try them all!

Someone from Cuyahoga Falls is trying to sell the cookbook autographed by Glenna for $36 on ebay.  There’s one on Biblio.com for $28.96, including shipping. Others are asking $49.99.

For a 74-year-old cookbook. Only Bibles last longer than that in print.

Former BJ sports editor Ken Krause, who lives in Medford, Massachussetts, emailed me the Glenna Snow photo with this thought:
“Interesting that two of the Beacon Journal’s best food writers were named Snow.”

Great minds think alike, Ken. That was my thought, too, when I began working on this article, thus my lede in this article.
 
Jane Snow added this information to the BJ Snow-storm:
“Glenna Snow’s son called me once from his home in Biloxi, Mississippi. He wanted to know why the BJ was still using his mother’s name. Her cookbook usually can be found at The Bookseller in Wallhaven.

“In my younger days, reader often called to tell me they remembered my ‘grandmother.’ By the time I retired, they were remembering my ‘mother.’ “

See, I told you Jane was the best modern food writer in BJ history! And Glenna Snow the best pre-modern food writer.

The University of Akron Press also published “Jane Snow Cooks,” which had five printings by 2010. My daughter, a teacher in Aurora, uses it for her cooking Bible. So I’m benefitting from Jane’s recipes till my Final Dirtnap. Thanks, Jane. And LaQuita.

In the most fitting match in history, the best food writer in modern BJ history (Glenna gets the pre-modern title), East Liverpool, Ohio native Jane Snow married Japanese native and sushi chef Tony Kawaguchi.
They’ve been bouncing between Japan and various USA sites since Jane’s 2006 retirement from Ol’ Blue Walls when they’re not living on their two acres in Copley.

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