TODD, Pamela A. 1950-

PERSONAL:

Born February 22, 1950. Education: Degree in English (first class); M.A. (art history).

ADDRESSES:

Agent—c/o Author Mail, Watson-Guptil Publications, 770 Broadway, New York, NY 10003. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Creative writing teacher. Punch magazine, London, England, former art exhibit and restaurant reviewer. Has also worked as a literary agent for ten years.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Illinois Arts Council grant.

WRITINGS:

(Compiler and designer, with David Fordham) Private Tucker's Boer War Diary: The Transvaal War of 1899, 1900, 1901, & 1902 with Natal Field Forces, Elm Tree Books (London, England), 1980.

Forget-Me-Not: A Floral Treasury: Sentiments and Plant Lore from the Language of Flowers, illustrated by Ian Penney, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1993.

The Little Book of Daffodils: A Garden of Poetry, History, Lore, and Floriculture, illustrated by Ian Penney, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1994.

The Little Book of Tulips: A Garden of Poetry, History, Lore, and Floriculture, illustrated by Ian Penney, Little, Brown (Boston, MA), 1994.

Celebrating the Impressionist Table: A Celebration of Regional French Foods through the Palettes of the Great Impressionists, recipes by Louise Pickford, Stewart, Tabori & Chang (New York, NY), 1997.

Pig and the Shrink (young adult novel), Delacorte Press (New York, NY), 1999.

Bloomsbury at Home, H. N. Abrams (New York, NY), 1999.

Pre-Raphaelites at Home, Watson-Guptill Publications (New York, NY), 2001.

The Arts and Crafts Companion, Bullfinch (Boston, MA), 2004.

Contributor to The Historical Encyclopedia of Chicago Women, and to periodicals, including Chicago Tribune Magazine and Writer.

EDITOR

William Morris, The Sweet Days Die, Pavilion Books (London, England), 1996.

William Wordsworth, Trailing Clouds of Glory, Pavilion Books (London, England), 1996.

W. B. Yeats, Heaven's Embroidered Cloths: Poems by W. B. Yeats, Pavilion Books (London, England), 1996.

SIDELIGHTS:

As a columnist at England's Punch magazine, Pamela A. Todd specialized in reviewing both art exhibits and restaurants. This interest in high art and fine dining has played out in many of her books, including Celebrating the Impressionists' Table: A Celebration of Regional French Foods through the Palettes of the Great Impressionists, Bloomsbury at Home, and The Pre-Raphaelites at Home. In addition, Todd has edited a number of poetry collections, compiled a couple of miscellanies on flowers, and written a children's book; and she has worked as a literary agent and creative writing instructor at numerous workshops, including teaching journal writing at a women's prison.

In three unusual art books, Pamela Todd focuses on the day-to-day lives of some of the great names in art and literature, revealing the more homey aspects of their lives. Celebrating the Impressionists' Table turns the reader's attention from the studios where the masterpieces were created to the kitchens where these artists relaxed and indulged other tastes. "Here, the human (and occasionally, humane) side of these masters stands out," explained Booklist reviewer Barbara Jacobs, such as Monet's fascination with gadgets, including an ice cream machine, Renoir's insistence on Parisian brie over other varieties, and Gauguin's love of cooking. In addition, the book provides over one hundred classic French recipes. In Bloomsbury at Home Todd "focuses upon the districts and houses where the artists and writers of the Bloomsbury group chose to live and how these places reflected their ideas on art and life," observed Library Journal reviewer Sandra Rothenberg. Todd drew on a huge number of photographs, diaries, letters, as well as the preserved houses themselves, to convey the curious mixture of middle-class conventionality and bohemian lifestyle that marked the group, and she "makes judicious use of the vast amount of material available," according to Booklist reviewer Donna Seaman. In addition, her use of the many drawings and paintings done by Bloomsbury members reveals that this was as much an artistic as a literary circle. Birmingham Post contributor Ross Reyburn observed that Todd "skillfully intermingles quotations and anecdotes with her narrative to provide a wonderful insight into the group, whose artistic and literary talents prospered in an atmosphere of liberalism and sexual freedom that outraged the more conventional world." Similarly, in Pre-Raphaelites at Home, Todd draws on numerous letters and diary quotations to show how artists such as Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Edward Burne-Jones, and William Morris "worked together to shape the day-to-day world according to their aesthetic ideals," as Victoria contributor Laura Hannett wrote.

In addition to her studies of poetry and artistic movements, Todd has produced a novel of her own, a story for middle-school readers titled Pig and the Shrink. This "humorous first novel," in the words of a Publishers Weekly reviewer, tells the story of Tucker Harrison, who decides to help his friend Angelo "Pig" Pighetti lose weight as part of a science project. The son of a neurosurgeon and a psychologist, Tucker is determined to win first place at the science fair, and he throws himself into the project of "saving" his friend, reading up on diet and fiber, and the psychology of overeating. The only problem is, Angelo actually likes himself as he is, and the fact that Angelo's family runs a pizza parlor is not helping Tucker's plan. Gradually, of course, it is Tucker who must change, as he realizes that his project has blinded him to his friend's wishes and feelings. While noting that some of the characters were too generic, Booklist reviewer Carolyn Phelan found that the story "rolls along … sparked by humorous situations and witty dialogue." Told through Tucker's voice, it is a story of true friendship and "what readers will enjoy most is the mellow commentary Tucker gives and the mellower person he learns to become," commented Mary Harris Russell in a review for the Chicago Tribune. Similarly, a Kirkus Reviews contributor concluded that "Readers will be laughing as they comprehend the subtle but strong message about looking beyond outward appearances."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Birmingham Post, October 21, 2001, Ross Reyburn, review of Bloomsbury at Home, p. 53.

Booklist, May 15, 1997, Barbara Jacobs, review of Celebrating the Impressionist Table: A Celebration of Regional French Foods through the Palettes of the Great Impressionists, p. 1554; October 1, 1999, Carolyn Phelan, review of Pig and the Shrink, p. 358; March 1, 2000, Donna Seaman, review of Bloomsbury at Home, p. 1186.

Book Report, November-December, 1999, review of Pig and Shrink.

Chicago Tribune, January 23, 2000, Mary Harris Russell, review of Pig and the Shrink, p. 4.

Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 1999, review of Pig and the Shrink, p. 890.

Library Journal, April 1, 2000, Sandra Rothenberg, review of Bloomsbury at Home, p. 100.

New York Times, May 18, 2000, Eve Kahn, "Around the World with Artists and Happy Campers."

New York Times Book Review, May 21, 2000, Jillian Dunham, "Books in Brief: Nonfiction; Bloomsberries."

Publishers Weekly, August 2, 1999, review of Pig and the Shrink, p. 85.

Victoria, February, 2000, Laura Hannett, review of Pre-Raphaelites at Home, p. 30.*