Despite his mental problems, Richard Shaver seems to have had a relatively happy marriage with his wife Dorothy, or Dot. And he always praised her cooking in his letters.

Among my Shaver mementos is Dot’s hand-written cookbook. I’m intrigued by these recipes for fig wine and rhubarb wine. They sound like intriguing down-home concoctions. I haven’t tried them; if anyone wants to test them, let me know how they turn out.

For a drawing (probably by Shaver) from this notebook, see the post of 5/27/08. For more Shaver material, do visit Richard Toronto’s website, over here.

(Posted by Doug Skinner)