Gael Greene Magazine Collection
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Abstract
Gael Greene is an American restaurant critic, author and novelist. Ms. Greene is a graduate of the University of Michigan and became New York magazine's restaurant critic in fall 1968. This collection contains copies of magazines, primarily New York Magazine, in which articles by Gael Greene appear.
Biographical Note
Gael Greene (born December 22, 1933) is an American restaurant critic, author and novelist. Greene is a graduate of the University of Michigan, and became New York magazine's restaurant critic in 1968. The American edition of The Foodie Handbook credits Greene with being the first person to use the word "foodie".
Greene famously went to great lengths to conceal her identity from restaurateurs, reserving and using credit cards under other names, and wearing hats that covered her eyes in photographs, on television, and in public appearances. Her writing inspired and documented the city's growing interest in food and dining out.
For more than 30 years, she served as New York magazine's "Insatiable Critic" and then continued as a columnist until 2008, the magazine's 40th anniversary as well as her own. She was then fired. The coverage surrounding her dismissal seemingly sparked a revival of interest in Greene, leading to appearances as a judge on the TV show Top Chef Masters and international requests for interviews focused on her web site, Insatiable Critic.com.
In 1981 she co-founded Citymeals-on-Wheels, along with the teacher and food writer James Beard, to help fund weekend and holiday meals for homebound elderly people in New York City. She remains an active chair of the company's board, hosting an annual Power Lunch for Women. Greene has received numerous awards for her work with Citymeals and in 1992 was honored as Humanitarian of the Year by the James Beard Foundation. She is the winner of the International Association of Cooking Professionals' magazine writing award (2000) and a Silver Spoon from Food Arts magazine.
Arrangement
This collection is arranged chronologically, and numbered at the box level. Scope and Content notes for each box of magazines list the articles by Greene that appear in each magazine within that box. This list was compiled by Greene herself.
Scope and Content
This collection contains copies of New York Magazine, Manhattan, and other magazines in which articles by Gael Greene appear. The magazines have been kept in their original housing and order.
Subjects
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open to researchers. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright (or related rights to publicity and privacy) for materials in this collection was not transferred to New York University. Permission to use materials must be secured from the copyright holder. Please contact the Fales Library and Special Collections, fales.library@nyu.edu, 212-998-2596.
Provenance
The collection was donated to NYU's Fales Library and Special Collections in 2014.