death_date children birth_place nationality name birth_date spouse genre image article_title birth_name occupation
1989 gordon devoto , mark devoto houghton , michigan american avis devoto 22 may 1904 bernard devoto culinary avis devoto.jpg avis devoto
 avis macvicar editor
avis devoto

avis devoto -lrb- may 22 , 1904 -- 1989 -rrb- was an american culinary editor , book reviewer and cook .
she was highly influential in editing and guiding two famous cookbooks to publication : julia child 's `` mastering the art of french cooking '' and british food writer elizabeth david 's `` italian food '' .
avis macvicar devoto was born in houghton , michigan , on may 22 , 1904 .
she attended northwestern university and at the end of her freshman year in 1923 , she married american historian bernard devoto , who had been her english instructor .
the devotos remained in evanston for four years and then moved to cambridge , massachusetts , where bernard taught english at harvard university until 1936 .
during these early years , devoto became acquainted with many literary icons - close friends of bernard 's - including robert frost and publishing executive lovell thompson .
the devotos lived in cambridge for the majority of their lives together .
they had two sons , gordon -lrb- d. 2009 , -rrb- an amateur writer , and mark , a music theorist and composer who taught at tufts university .
in addition to being an accomplished cook and book reviewer , avis devoto worked for many years as bernard 's secretary , handling his correspondence and editing his writing .
in 1952 , devoto received a letter from julia child , at that time living in paris , responding to one of bernard 's recent magazine columns on kitchen knives .
devoto 's reply to the letter initiated the correspondence and lifelong friendship between the two women .
devoto and child would not meet in person until 1954 , but during those first two years they exchanged around 120 letters , which were eventually compiled into a book , `` as always , julia '' -lrb- 2010 -rrb- .
devoto served as an early reader and editor for child 's forthcoming cookbook , `` mastering the art of french cooking '' , and her editorial connections would help child and her co-authors louise bertholle and simone beck sign a contract with houghton mifflin in 1954 .
when the publishing company rejected the book , devoto helped push for the book 's publication by alfred a. knopf .
after bernard devoto 's sudden death in 1955 , avis devoto worked as a cookbook scout and editor for knopf from 1956 -- 1958 .
she later became house secretary for lowell house at harvard from 1958 to 1963 and worked in the deans ' office at radcliffe college until her retirement in 1969 .
during this time she also continued to edit and read manuscripts for houghton mifflin .
devoto died of pancreatic cancer in 1989 .
