Reporter’s new memoir chronicles her rare friendship with 93-year-old man
Brooklyn BookBeat: Author to Speak in Cobble Hill May 25
Isabel Vincent, an award-winning journalist, met 93-year-old Edward at just the right moment. Her marriage was in tumult, he had just lost his wife of 69 years, and both were unknowingly in need of something they’d forgotten existed: the sheer joy of a spontaneous connection. Over the course of weekly dinners, Isabel and Edward developed the kind of friendship found so rarely in life, and she vividly recounts this remarkable relationship in her new memoir “Dinner with Edward: The Story of an Unexpected Friendship” (Algonquin Books May 24).
Vincent will speak about her book at BookCourt in Cobble Hill (163 Court St.) on May 25 at 7 p.m.
“I was inspired to write of my encounter with an ordinary man who was extraordinary in every way,” said the author. Each week, Edward, a self-taught cook, makes elegant dinners from scratch — flounder poached in vermouth with a sauce fumet; pan-fried potatoes with Gruyere; silky, melt-in-your-mouth apricot soufflé with freshly whipped cream. All the while, Edward imparts to Isabel his cooking secrets, such as the perfect pastry recipe (“Butter and a little bit of lard in the dough, darling”), and his well-earned advice (“There is somewhere someone who will feel lucky knowing you. And if lucky enough, loving you”).