‘Liked to Eat, Liked to Cook’ : Gourmet Author James Beard Dies at 81

James Beard, the food expert whose bald pate and hearty appetite came to be identified with the best of American cuisine, died early today of cardiac arrest at New York Hospital. He was 81.

Beard had been hospitalized since Jan. 8 for a variety of health problems, said an associate, Caroline Stuart. Until then, he had been working on a book and continuing his syndicated weekly column.

Among his two dozen books were the best-selling “The James Beard Cookbook,” “American Cookery” and “Beard on Bread.” “Cook It Outdoors,” which came out in 1941, was the first book ever published about modern outdoor cooking.

Bald and portly, Beard had an easy manner that convinced listeners that his food was fun to prepare and irresistible.

Authorities Rejected “We Americans have been intimidated for far too long by other people’s opinions on what we should eat,” he once said. Americans should not bow to anyone’s authority on food--”least of all mine,” he added.

An Oregon-bred bachelor, Beard lived in New York’s Greenwich Village in a house that served as residence, office and cooking school.

To Beard, “food was a part of life,” said his editor, Judith Jones. And he liked to eat. “He certainly did--and he really liked to cook,” Jones said. “Not by the book, but by inspiration. I’ll always remember the sight of him, his head poked into the big refrigerator, pulling out this or that.”

As a youth in Portland, Ore., he was first influenced by the cooking of his British-born mother, who made skilled use of local produce.

In 1923, he embarked on an acting career, appearing in some New York revivals and in early radio dramas broadcast from San Francisco.

Beard went into cooking as a livelihood in the early 1930s by giving private lessons on culinary arts to customers of a kitchen designer in Portland.

He came east in 1937 and the following year opened a catering business, Hors d’Oeuvres Inc. Out of that venture came Beard’s first book, “Hors d’Oeuvres and Canapes,” in 1940, and a culinary legend was launched.