Frony shot most of The Missourian’s food features because Mary Blue, who wrote most of them, was organized and worked well in advance. Most of my photos were spot news, self-generated features and assignments that popped up at the last minute when Frony wasn’t available.
Frony must have been out of pocket when it came time to shoot classmate Tom Holt from the Central High School Class of 1965. Tom and I had classes together and even went on a double date at least once, but we ran in different circles: he was a jock and I was a debater who had a plastic pocket protector.
Baste that chicken
I guess basting is what he’s doing. See, my cooking skills are severely limited. Wife Lila said the other night, “You know you’d starve if I got hit by a bus.”
Not exactly denying it, I said, “I think I could survive. I mean, I have my cookbook to fall back on.”
“Your cookbook?” she asked, giving me a quizzical – OK, unbelieving – look.
“Sure,” and I reached under the kitchen telephone and brought out a stack of carry-out menus.
Every great cook has an assistant
I don’t know who Tom’s assistant was. Somebody will have to fill in the blank.
These pictures suffer from overdevelopment in the darkroom. When you’re dealing with a contrasty situation like this, you should expose for the shadows and cut back on the developing time to reduce the contrast. I got the shadow part right, but I left the film in the developer a minute or two too long and caused the highlights, like the assistant’s shirt, to block up.
I couldn’t find the date when the pictures ran in The Missourian, so I can’t pass on Tom’s cooking tips.
I usually start with a picture, then wrap some words around it. This time, though, I have an endless supply of pictures and not enough words to express how I feel about Mary Welch Steinhoff. So, on this Mother’s Day, here’s a small sample of Mother with her family.
