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Alice B. Toklas (1877 - 1967)
Arriving in Paris in 1907, she became first the friend and then lover of Gertrude Stein, living with her for 38 years. Alice cooked and kept house for Gertrude and acted as her secretary, while Gertrude attended to her writings and entertained many of the "lost generation" of writers, artists, and musicians, including Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Mercedes de Acosta, and Virgil Thomson. Gertrude nicknamed Alice "Pussy," while Alice called Gertrude her "Lovey." Alice remained a faithful companion of Gertrude's until the latter's death from cancer in 1946. In 1933, Gertrude wrote The Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas, which brought Alice considerable attention, even though the work was not her autobiography at all but Gertrude's, using Alice as a narrator. Alice's true claim to fame came in 1954 with the publication of her cookbook. The Alice B. Toklas Cookbook appeared in both American and British editions, with the American version missing her recipe for Hashish Fudge. That recipe became an underground classic among the hippie community during the 1960s, and the cookbook itself remains popular for its other, more conventional recipes, many of which utilized truffles. What is Remembered, her memoir of life with "Lovey," appeared in 1963. This, combined with her many letters and correspondences, attests to the fact that Gertrude Stein was not the only one in that Paris apartment who had considerable talent as a writer. Towards the end of her life, Alice turned to religion, in hopes of being reunited with Gertrude in the next life. After her death, she was buried next to Gertrude in the Pere Lachaise cemetary in Paris.
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