Vertamae Grosvenor, who died today, was a poet, actress, culinary anthropologist, writer, and a correspondent on NPR’s Cultural Desk. She was the host of NPR’s award-winning documentary series Horizons from 1988 until 1995, when the program was discontinued. Prior to becoming its host, she was a frequent contributor to the program, producing such memorable documentaries as 1983’s Slave Voices: Things Past Telling; and Daufuskie: Never Enough Too Soon, which earned her a Robert F. Kennedy Award and an Ohio State Award. Among Grosvenor’s other awards are a duPont-Columbia Award and an Ohio State Award, both awarded in 1990, for AIDS and Black America: Breaking the Silence, a series which aired on NPR’s newsmagazines. In 1992, she was honored with a National Association of Black Journalists Award for an All Things Considered segment, South Africa and the African-American Experience. She is author of Vibration Cooking or the Travel Notes of a Geechee Girl, an autobiographical cookbook; and of Thursdays and Every Other Sunday Off: A Domestic Rap.
In googling her, I came upon this very interesting piece about different faith/cultural
customs regarding funeral foods: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/10/dining/arts/he-wouldve-wanted-everyone-to-eat.html
