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ORAL HISTORY
Anne Byrn
Anne Byrn, born in 1956, grew up in Nashville, Tennessee. In high school and college, Byrn interned at the Nashville Banner. Often, she would walk down to the features department to visit with the food editor, Bernie Arnold, and explore her cookbook collection. Byrn found the food section fascinating. She studied at the University of Georgia and doubled majored in journalism and home economics.
After graduating from UGA, the dean of home economics suggested that she apply for the food editor position at the Atlanta Journal. Byrn sent in her clips, and her knowledge of writing and food secured her the position in 1978. At the Journal, she reported on Rich’s Cooking School and met visiting cooks like Marcella Hazan and Julia Child. She left the newspaper in 1993 and moved back to Nashville and began writing for The Tennessean. Today, Byrn writes cookbooks focusing on the history of baking and food. American Cake, a historical cookbook of baking, was published in 2016.
