Author Ruth Reichl coming to Healdsburg

Author Ruth Reichl, the former editor and chief of Gourmet magazine, will appear in Healdsburg on Oct. 8 to talk about her latest book, “My Kitchen Year: 136 Recipes That Changed My Life.”

Hosted by Copperfield’s Books, the event kicks off at 6 p.m. with a cocktail reception appearance at Hotel Healdsburg where guests can mingle with the author and enjoy appetizers and wine.

The event continues at 8 p.m. at The Raven Performing Arts Theater with a book talk featuring Reichl, an audience Q&A and a book signing. Doors open at 7 p.m.

The cookbook/memoir chronicles the year of healing and rediscovery triggered when Gourmet magazine was abruptly shuttered by its parent company in the fall of 2009, and Reichl was left with an uncertain professional future.

“I did what I always do when I’m confused, lonely or frightened,” she writes. “I disappeared into the kitchen.”

The 136 seasonal recipes collected in the book represent Reichl’s lifetime passion for food: summer peaches baked into a simple cobbler, plump chickens and earthy mushrooms fricasseed with cream, fresh oysters chilling in a box of snow, a rhubarb sundae that signals the arrival of spring.

Purchase of the book ($35 plus tax) is required. If you pre-purchase a book, you can buy up to two $10 tickets to the event.

Limited tickets are available to the pre-event reception ($125 for two) at the Hotel Healdsburg, which includes appetizers from the book, fine wine, a copy of the cookbook and two tickets to the talk. copperfieldsbooks.com.