Henry T. Finck (1854–1926)

1st pub 1913. Food ed. NYTs. 1st native Oregonian to graduate from Harvard. "Henry Theophilus Finck (September 22, 1854 - 1926) was an American musical critic, born at Bethel, Missouri, and raised in Portland, Oregon, where he was taught piano and violincello. He taught himself Latin and Greek so thoroughly that he was able to enter Harvard as a sophomore in 1872. At Harvard, he studied philosophy, the classics, and music. He attended the Bayreuth Festival in 1876, of which he wrote accounts for newspapers and magazines. A subsequent fellowship from Harvard enabled him to spend three years in study in Berlin, Heidelberg, and Vienna. He became musical editor of the New York Evening Post in 1881. Beyond music, Mr. Finck was a Gourmet and wrote extensively on national and international cuisine. Dr. Avery Gilbert cites Finck's The Gastronomic Value of Odors as having influenced his own book, What the Nose Knows."… (mais)