Bernard Clayton Jr.

Bernard Clayton Jr. (December 25, 1916 – March 28, 2011) was an American newspaper reporter, and foreign correspondent, author, and baker, who wrote cookbooks on bread, and pastries. Far less well known than his peer, James Beard, Clayton's books were equally regarded by those who baked, and by generations of home chefs who picked up the myriad revised editions of several of his books.

Life

Bernard Clayton Jr.’s life began in the Midwest. He became a photographer, foreign correspondent, then went on to traveling, learning, creating, and writing about baking, then other foods.

Birth

Clayton was born on Dec. 25, 1916, in Rochester, Indiana.

The Breads of France

In 1978, his book The Breads of France was published after he logged 7,000 miles across France, interviewing bakers, innkeepers, and home chefs.

The Complete Book of Pastry

In 1981, The Complete Book of Pastry did an exhaustive cataloging of global pastries, New York Times writer and chef Craig Claiborne, "one of the most important cookbooks of this year if not of this decade," and established Clayton as one of the seminal forces in writing about baking, noting that he was "perhaps the most industrious specialist in the area of baking."

Cooking Across America

In the early 1990s Clayton took an extensive trip across the United States, where he met with home cooks to discover their recipes. The book Cooking Across America was published in 1993.

Bernard Clayton’s Complete Book of Small Breads

In 1998 Clayton did a more exhaustive dive into the small breads, rolls, muffins, etc., that were a part of his bigger compendium on baking, Bernard Clayton’s The Complete Book of Breads.

The Complete Book of Soups and Stews

His lone deviation from baking, The Complete Book of Soups and Stews, was published in 1984 and then reissued as a revised edition in 2006, alongside Bernard Clayton’s The Complete Book of Breads.

Ancillary articles

Clayton contributed articles and recipes on food to newspapers, and other publications, including the Chicago Tribune.

Death Clayton died March 28, 2011, in Bloomington, Indiana, at the age of 94.