By Frank Passic
M.F.K. FISHER WAS BORN IN ALBION
Recently there was an incident at 202 Irwin Avenue in Albion that required the help of the Albion Department of Public Safety. It was in the news and the situation was handled professionally. What most people don’t know is, this house has a special significance in Albion’s history.
Back in 1904, two brothers, Rex (1877-1953) and Walter Kennedy came to town and purchased the Albion Recorder newspaper. Rex became the editor, and Walter served as the manager. Rex eventually moved to 202 Irwin Avenue with his wife Edith (1880-1949). On July 3, 1908, Rex’s wife Edith gave birth to their daughter, Mary Frances Kennedy. In a written letter back to Albion from California years later, Mary related the details of her birth as follows: “I was born there in Albion in 1908, delivered by “Doc” George Hafford, a man my parents Rex and Edit were devoted to. Rex was then one of the volunteer firemen, and since I was born in a heat wave, he persuaded his pals to come several times and spray the walls of the house. My father Rex was sure I would be born on July 4, and he wanted to name me Independencia. My mother Edith was completely against this completely un-Irish notion, and induced Doc Hafford to hurry things up a bit, in common pity.”
Rex sold his interest in the Recorder to his brother Walter in 1911, and moved from Albion, eventually settling in Whittier California. There he became editor of the Whittier News for 42 years. Walter of course continued with the Recorder before selling it to Jack Bedient in 1939.
Our focus however is upon Rex’s daughter Mary, who became known as one of America’s greatest food writers of the 20th century. She was known professionally as M.F.K. Fisher (1908-1993) in the literary world, and was known for her elegant beauty and wit. She wrote some 27 books in her career. Some of her masterpieces include: “How to Cook a Wolf,” “Consider the Oyster,” “The Art of Eating,” “The Cooking of Provincial France,” “Serve it Forth,” “The Gastronomical Me,” and others. Her articles frequently appeared in The New Yorker and Gourmet Magazines for many years.
Her autobiography, “To Begin Again: Stories and Memoirs 1908-1929” was published posthumously in November, 1992. Albion is discussed in the chapter 1 entitled “Native Truths.” The book is readily available from book sellers today. You can read much more about M.F.K. Fisher’s life and writings by looking up her name on internet sites.
. In a letter to yours truly in 1985, M.F.K. Fisher wrote: “I have nothing but good memories of the town where I was born in 1908. I hope to return some day to make new ones.” Unfortunately, that return never occurred, as she passed away at her home in Glen Ellen, California at the age of 83 on June 22, 1992. Her www.Findagrave.com memorial number is 23031372.
From our Historical Notebook this week we present a photograph of M.F.K. Fisher, and the house at 202 Irwin Avenue where she was born. By the way, this was also the home of my Junior High School English teacher Edith Potts beginning in the 1960s. I’ve mentioned this before, but I feel that M.F.K.’s birthplace site is worthy of a State-of-Michigan green historic site marker plaque in front. Would some local group like to take on the project to see that an historical marker entitled “Birthplace of M.F.K. Fisher” is placed here?
