Erica Brown, who has died of cancer aged 64, was a writer and editor, and in 1985 one of the first members of the Guild of Food Writers, which aimed not only to bring together professional food writers, but also to stimulate public interest in food, and campaign for improvements in food production.
In the 1970s, working in the London bureau of the New York Times, and later as a freelance journalist, she developed an interest in food and interior design, becoming an avid follower of the tantalising French and Mediterranean recipes of Elizabeth David. Erica wrote about the skills of young French chefs who had begun opening restaurants in the capital. She was an excellent cook herself, loved dining out, and spoke knowledgably about the various tastes, textures and flavours on offer.
For some years she was the editor of Signature, which she developed from a leaflet for Diners' Club members into a glossy magazine. It was acquired by Condé Nast in 1986, and she hired many leading writers and artists for it. In 1995, she wrote Provence Gastronomique, a travel cookbook published in French and English. The time spent in France researching it prompted her and her partner, John Hodder, to go and live in Provence, where they stayed for eight years with their beloved dog Ollie, who welcomed guests by eating their slippers.
The oldest of three daughters of Norman and Nancy Young, Erica was born in Newcastle and was always a passionate geordie, keenly following the stumbling fortunes of Newcastle FC all her life. She gained a place at the Henry Smith grammar school in Hartlepool. At the age of 17, she won the title of Miss Billingham, much to the delight of her parents. In later years, Erica would often threaten to hit anyone who mentioned it.
The early plan was for her to take a degree at Durham University, but she was tempted away from her studies by an offer from Tyne Tees Television to become their weather girl. Her ambition was to become a journalist and she got a job as a researcher on the Sunday Times. Her career had hardly begun when she met the gallerist Michael Brown, temporarily in London but based in New York. They married and settled in the US, where Erica worked on Vogue magazine and edited the lifestyle pages of the New York Times. But the marriage didn't work out and, at the end of the 70s, Erica returned to the UK, where she met John, a photographer. They became lifetime partners.
In 2005, John and Erica moved from France to north Wales, where Erica worked for a small publishing house, Berwyn Mountain Press. She continued to develop her ideas about food, and was often heard to muse on the paucity of fish in the diet of a country surrounded on three sides by the sea.
Erica is survived by John and her sisters, Aylison and Louise.
