Joan Nathan was born in Providence, Rhode Island. She graduated from the University of Michigan with a master's degree in French literature and earned a master's in public administration from Harvard University. For three years she lived in Israel, where she worked for Mayor Teddy Kollek of Jerusalem. In 1974, working for Mayor Abraham Beame in New York, she cofounded the Ninth Avenue Food Festival. Ms. Nathan is a frequent contributor to The New York Times and other publications. She is the author of numerous books including Jewish Cooking in America and The New American Cooking, both of which won the James Beard Award and the IACP Award. She was the host of the nationally syndicated PBS television series Jewish Cooking in America with Joan Nathan, based on the book. The mother of three grown children, Ms. Nathan lives in Washington, D.C., and on Martha's Vineyard with her husband, Allan Gerson.