Barbara Gibbons (1934–2014)

Barbara Gibbons was born in East Orange, New Jersey on October 9, 1934. She dropped out of Montclair State Teachers College in the mid-1950s after becoming pregnant with her daughter. She worked full time as a writer and photographer for The Union Leader in New Jersey. Her interest in low-calorie show more food began with her personal weight problem. Determined to lose weight but not wanting to give up comfort foods, she began substituting ingredients and reducing fat content. In the mid-1960s, she began teaching a course at a local community college about her low-calorie cooking method and writing a weekly cooking column for The Elizabeth Daily Journal in New Jersey. She started writing Family Circle magazine column Creative Low-Calorie Cooking in 1971, was syndicated as The Slim Gourmet in about 200 newspapers nationwide by 1976, and published her first book The Slim Gourmet Cookbook, which won the Tastemaker Award in 1976. She wrote 16 books during her lifetime including The International Slim Gourmet Cookbook, which won the Tastemaker Award in 1978, The Year-Round Turkey Cookbook, and Slim Gourmet Sweets and Treats. She died on March 26, 2014 at the age of 79. (Bowker Author Biography) show less