Ali Clarke Jan 26

I was very sorry to read today that Prof Helen Leach has died. She was a stalwart of the Otago anthropology programme and did really interesting work on the history of food, from ancient to modern times. One of her great projects was to use community cookbooks to trace the evolution of recipes - such fascinating material!

I had the privilege of meeting Helen a few times when I worked at the Hocken, and interviewed her for the history of the university project. She was an intelligent and interesting person and so passionate about her subject.

RIP Helen.

#WomenInAcademia #anthropology #archaeology

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helen_Leach

Helen Leach - Wikipedia

Show thread🇳🇿 Shayne Parkinson

@simplicitarian oh, that's sad to hear. I enjoyed Helen's writing, and loved her use of resources that are frequently overlooked (and undervalued). I have copies of a couple of the books she wrote with her sisters, too.

She's left some fine work for us to remember her by.

Jan 27 at 2:18amWeb
Show threadKateTJan 27
@ShayneParkinson @simplicitarian Oh. that is sad. I did my dissertation on community cookbooks (before discovering she'd already done a similar project) so after I was done, I donated about a dozen books that she didn't have, into her vast collection. She was very encouraging and enthusiastic!
Show threadAli Clarke Jan 27
@KateT @ShayneParkinson She would have loved that 💚
Show threadAli Clarke Jan 27
@ShayneParkinson Oh yes, the books she wrote with her sisters about cooking and gardening are great.
Show threadAli Clarke Jan 27
@ShayneParkinson I particularly like her book The Twelve Cakes of Christmas: An Evolutionary History, With Recipes (2011), co-written with Mary Browne and Raelene Inglis. It includes recipes from the 17th to 21st C, adapted to be made now, along with some great history behind them.