Farewell, Father Capon

Robert Farrar Capon has passed away. He was an Episcopal priest but is probably best known for his food writing, one of his most famous books being "Supper of the Lamb" (and a very good book it is).

In that book, he writes somewhat of the philosophy of cooking and eating...he almost introduces some of the idea of the old Greek "symposium" into the idea of wining and dining.

One of the things I always remember from his writing came from an essay he wrote, I think it was published in the old Eating Well? (Eating Well went defunct but then was revived; I read it both in its early days and now). It was about the celebration of Christmas, and he was quietly resisting the pressure (which comes in a lot of ways and forms and often comes from fairly earnest Christians) about de-materializing the celebration. And while on the one hand, I do find the buy-your-significant-other-a-car ads somewhat offensive, I also admit, there is a special joy in giving and receiving presents, and to totally do away with that seems wrong to me. And it seemed wrong to Capon, at least from what I remember from the essay. I also remember his comment, which always made me chuckle: "God must like stuff; He made an awful lot of it" (as part of the "It's really okay to give your loved ones material items as Christmas gifts" argument)

Here's another obituary from a different perspective, and it quotes his "benediction" from Supper of the Lamb.

Another quotation of his: “One real thing is closer to God than all the diagrams in the world.”

I enjoy his writing. May he rest in peace.