Richard H Collin

Early life and education

Collin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. His parents were Bernard ("Barney") Collin, a self-taught master craftsman tool and die maker, and his mother was Esther Reubens Collin.

Collin received his undergraduate degree (AB) from Kenyon College in 1954. At Kenyon College, Collin was an English major and belonged to the Middle Kenyon Association. During Collin's time in the Middle Kenyon Association, he became friends with fellow student, Kenyon graduate, and future novelist E.L. Doctorow.

Collin received his PhD from New York University in 1966. The PhD was in American Civilization, and Collin wrote a dissertation on Theodore Roosevelt.

Personal life

Collin's parents were immigrants from England who settled in Philadelphia. According the announcement published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, Collin became engaged to Frances Wene in 1954. He married Wene on August 15, 1954. They were divorced in 1969. . After their divorce, Wene married Robert H. Levy, an attorney. During the 1960s, Collin met his second wife, Rima Drell Reck, a professor of comparative literature at the University of New Orleans. They were married from 1969 until her death in 1998.

After Reck's death in 1998, Collin wrote Travels with Rima (2002), a memoir of his life together with Reck.

Two years after Reck's death, Collin met a widow, Phyllis Mayronne. Mayronne's late spouse, Harry Mayronne, Sr., had worked in advertising. According to Larson, the two shared a travel agent, and this agent introduced them to each other. Mayronne was to become Collin's partner during his last years. Fitzmorris writes that Collin and Mayronne met "on a European trip."

Career as historian and university professor

Collin jointed the faculty at Louisiana State University in New Orleans in 1966. In 1974, the university underwent an official name change and became the University of New Orleans. Collin taught history and was a specialist on the life of Theodore Roosevelt. In his book Theodore Roosevelt: Culture, Diplomacy, and Expansion: A New View of American Imperialism, Collin seeks to correct the caricatured view of Roosevelt as the imperialist Rough Rider. Collin reminds his readers that Roosevelt was a man of various accomplishments, was well educated, sophisticated, was a published author, and who possessed considerable interests in science, literature, and fine arts. In addition, Collin argues that, during Roosevelt's presidency, the United States itself became more sophisticated and cosmopolitan.

With changing mores in the 1960s, Collin went from being a conventional dresser in a business suit and a necktie to a more bohemian appearance, and he was known around the campus for wearing sandals and often wearing purple clothing. His love of purple extended to his car, as Collin owned a purple and white Cadillac, and, during the 1970s, Collin demonstrated his unconventionality by owning an Edsel.

Collin maintained longtime friendships with his former University of New Orleans students, including Michael Ledet, an artist and book designer, and Tom Fitzmorris, a food critic. In an interview after Collin's death, Ledet stated that Collin "...was an eccentric, sweet man, an intellectual in every sense of the word... [and he] ...was my best friend for 45 years."

Collin enjoyed teaching and would sometimes don costumes in his classes. According to Ledet, Collin was a "magnificent teacher, very dramatic" and that the students "really loved him, a lot more than the restaurants did."

Food writer

Collin was a restaurant critic, writing under the guise of the "Underground Gourmet."

In 1970, Collin heard about the "Underground Gourmet" series of restaurant guidebooks, published by Simon & Schuster. Collin wrote to the publisher, asking if they would be interested in a New Orleans version, and the publisher agreed. The contract was negotiated with the help of his first wife, Frances Collin, who is a literary agent. The resulting restaurant guide, The New Orleans Underground Gourmet, published in the summer of 1970, was "the first rated restaurant guide in the city's history." According to Gene Bourg, a former restaurant critic at The Times-Picayune, Collin's book was successful for Simon & Schuster and it "...sold like hotcakes." Another food writer Mary Tutwiler said that Collin had "...a cult following; one found his book, dog-eared and gravy stained, next to the phone book in houses all over the Crescent City. He was so witty, knowledgeable and influential..." Collin's book established him as the first New Orleans restaurant critic.

Several months after Simon & Schuster published Collin's book, the New Orleans States-Item hired Collin to write a weekly restaurant column. Collin employed an elaborate rating system for the quality of food at various restaurants. For exceptionally good dishes, Collin used the phrase platonic dishes – a reference to Plato and the Socratic dialogue The Republic. Collin used the designation platonic dishes sparingly. Lesser culinary offerings received ratings of highly recommended or – for more prosaic menu items – recommended.

From 1970–1980, Collin served as a columnist for the New Orleans States-Item and regularly published reviews of restaurants in New Orleans and the surrounding region. The regular newspaper column also bore the title Underground Gourmet.

Collin reviews encompassed all sorts of restaurants and cuisines, including fine-dining establishments such as well as fast-food restaurants. He was especially enamored with Po-Boy sandwiches and wrote of them at length.

Collin's work as a restaurant critic was not without controversy, however. If a restaurant received a favorable review, the restaurant owner was happy. If Collin gave an unfavorable review, restaurateurs complained, and one sent an angry letter to Collin's publisher, Simon and Schuster. Later, at a 1975 meeting of New Orleans restaurateurs, Collin's reviews "were subject to protest...", and these restaurateurs launched "...accusations that he lacked objectivity and, worse, that his wife, Rima Collin (also a UNO professor), had a professional interest in seeing some restaurants better rated than others." Generally, however, Collin was complimentary about restaurants in New Orleans. In a 1975 interview, Collin discussed restaurants in France and in New Orleans. He asserted that "I think they're equal. I miss New Orleans when in France, and miss France when I'm in Orleans." In the same interview, when he was asked if New Orleans restaurants were in decline, Collin stated, "New Orleans restaurants are not on the decline. There's as much good eating now as ever."

In one instance, a review from Collin resulted in a lawsuit. A restaurant owner, Donald James Mashburn, sued Collin, the newspaper, and the publisher for defamation over a pointed review of his restaurant, Maison de Mashburn, which was located near Hammond, Louisiana. Collin's inflammatory review appeared in the June 22, 1974 issue of the States-Item.

Collin's review began with a mixture of harsh criticism and compliments with an emphasis on the former:

The case made its way through the Louisiana state courts and ultimately was decided by the Louisiana Supreme Court, which issued a decision in favor of Collin on December 13, 1977.

With his spouse, Rima Drell Reck, Collin wrote The New Orleans Cookbook (1975), The New Orleans Restaurant Guide (1976 edition), The Pleasures of Seafood (1977), and the 1982 edition of The New Orleans Restaurant Guide. The New Orleans Cookbook has gone through multiple printings, has sold at least 100,000 copies, and remains in print; Associated Press book critic Cecily Brownstone called it "one of the best regional contributions we are likely to have".

Later years and death

After Hurricane Katrina struck southern Louisiana in August 2005, Collin relocated to Birmingham, Alabama. Collin made periodic trips to New Orleans to eat at his favorite restaurants, and his last New Orleans appearance was at the 2008 Po-Boy Fest. He continued to reside in Birmingham until his death, however., from cancer.

Legacy

Although Collin stopped writing restaurant criticism in the 1980s, his work continued to influence later restaurant critics such as Tom Fitzmorris. Peggy Scott Laborde, a New Orleans documentary and television host, includes an interview of Collin in her 2001 public television documentary Lost Restaurants of New Orleans.

The New Orleans Cookbook has gone through multiple printings and remains in print and The New Orleans Underground Gourmet, while out-of-print, remains a sought after book in second-hand bookstores and online auction sites. According to blogger Pontchartrain Pete, Collin's book is useful as a historical text, as it illustrates the New Orleans restaurant scene in the 1970s. According to Susan Tucker, and archivist and student of culinary history, Collin's books are "...remarkable scholarly editions with a good mix of practical culinary treasures..." and they "...remind us that food history and observations of foodways form a wonderful part of our heritage as scholars, cooks, and indeed as human beings."

As their food writing and research on New Orleans cuisine has remained influential, the 2010 Po-Boy Festival, a food festival in New Orleans, was dedicated to the memory of both Reck and Collin.

Peggy Scott Laborde dedicated her television documentary New Orleans Restaurants with a Past to Collin's memory.

Many of Collin's books, personal papers, and music compact discs are now housed at the Library of Southeastern Louisiana University. Collin's longtime friends Phyllis Mayronne and Michael Ledet were instrumental in bringing these materials to the University. This large collection reflects Collin's "wide-ranging interests." When Collin resided in Birmingham, his books "were scattered throughout his condominium and had over-flowed into a 60-foot storage unit, filling shelves on both sides of the unit." Among the items that Collin bequeathed to Southeastern University were "...more than 4,000 books on history, art, music and popular culture and 500 opera and vocal CDs. Also included are Collin’s collection of books and papers associated with President Theodore Roosevelt..." Another commentator stated that the bequest included, "a large number of coffee table books on artists and art movements, a collection of books and papers on Theodore Roosevelt along with Roosevelt memorabilia, cookbooks and books on food and drink, writings on culture and taste, classic literature, and many books on baseball, one of his passions." At the time of their accession, the materials in the collection were valued at $100,000.

In addition to the materials at Southeastern Louisiana University, the Nadine Vorhoff Library at Newcomb College holds over 400 books from Collin's personal collection. These deal with culinary history and other food-related topics.

Professional memberships

Collin was a member of the American Historical Association, the Organization of American Historians, the American Studies Association, and the Society of Historians of American Foreign Relations.

Awards