(c)Soo-Jeong Kang
From time to time, we will post short interviews with interesting people about their thoughts and feelings on women and drinking. There is such a wide array of perspectives about this topic, and we are excited to gain insight into as many as possible and to share them with you.
Kim Severson has been a staff writer for the New York Times since 2004. Previously, she spent six years writing about cooking and the culture of food for the San Francisco Chronicle. Before that, she had a seven-year stint as an editor and reporter at The Anchorage Daily News in Alaska. She has also covered crime, education, social services and government for daily newspapers on the West Coast.
Ms. Severson has won several regional and national awards for news and feature writing, including the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism for her work on childhood obesity in 2002 and four James Beard awards for food writing.
Her memoir, “Spoon Fed: How Eight Cooks Saved My Life,” was published by Riverhead in April 2010. She has also written “The New Alaska Cookbook” and “The Trans Fat Solution: Cooking and Shopping to Eliminate the Deadliest Fat from Your Diet.”
She’s a Midwesterner by birth. And although she’s extremely fond of the West Coast, she is learning to love the East. She lives in Brooklyn with her partner and her daughter.
Drinking Diaries: How old were you when you had your first drink and what was it?
Kim Severson: I don’t know exactly, because I am sure I had sips of beer before this, but I remember sneaking brown liquor from my dad’s liquor cabinet and taking it to school in a Tupperware container when I was in the eighth grade. We used slushies from the vending machine as a mixer.
How did/does your family treat drinking?
My family likes to drink. My dad is a martini man, and there was always wine for special dinners. We had beer in the downstairs fridge, and my parents used to host some momentous cocktail parties. I am the outlier. The one who went so far I had to stop.
How do you approach alcohol in your every day life?
I do what I need to do to make sure I don’t drink, which mostly involves a spiritual life and talking to other alcoholics. Oh, and ice cream.
Have you ever had a phase in your life when you drank more or less?
Well, I’ve been sober 12 years so I guess that about covers it.
Can you tell us about the best time you ever had drinking?
photo courtesy of Riverhead Books
The good times were plentiful. I remember a great camping trip my senior year in the Smoky Mountains with a case of Miller Lite, and magic dinners with wines so rare you couldn’t buy them if you wanted to. People always look so good over wine like that.
What about the worst time?
Drinking made me want to kill myself.
Has drinking ever affected-either negatively or positively-a relationship of yours?
I think so many relationships get started in the two-drink glow. I used to love the intimacy that came from splitting a bottle of wine with someone. But then I usually ended up taking that person hostage later, emotionally at least. Drunk people say a lot of things they shouldn’t, and they aren’t really sure what they feel.
Has culture or religion influenced your drinking?
We’re half Italian, and I think that had an influence. Of course, my dad’s Norwegian and, don’t kid yourself–the Norwegians can drink. But I grew up around kids who drank, and getting drunk was a rite of passage. And my family had a good appreciation of cocktail hour and of wine. As I got more into food and cooking, I got deeper into wine. When you hang out with good cooks and good eaters, it’s hard not to fall in love with wine.
Why do, or don’t you, choose to drink?
They say one drink is too many and a million aren’t enough. I guess I just can’t predict what will happen once I start drinking. It changes my mood and my outlook and my productivity. But mostly, is sucks on my soul.
How has alcoholism affected your life?
Well, getting sober was about the best thing that happened to me. It completely changed me. So I would say that despite the crap I had to go through before I got sober, alcoholism has made me a much stronger, more open and grateful person.
If you could be any drink, what would it be? Why?
A sassy ginger and mint drink with some fresh seltzer. I’d like to be refreshing and a little startling, but not out of control.
