Bonnie Carter Travis

Bonnie Carter Travis (right) grew up on a cattle farm outside Natchez, Mississippi, where she spent long hours in the kitchen with her mother and the family’s two hired cooks, a brother and sister who were not only master cooks but also expert story-tellers. So, from the beginning, Travis associated the kitchen with good times and good conversation.

Bonnie Carter Travis received her B.A. and M.A. in English from the University of Mississippi and a Ph.D. in Linguistics from the University of Southern Mississippi, where she later served as an English professor and Director of the linguistics program. Travis is the author of Southern Cooking: Methods and Memorable Recipes (Prentice-Hall, 1981), as well as five English textbooks. Bonnie Carter Travis and Courtney Taylor wrote The Southern Cook's Handbook. Bonnie Carter Travis was also instructor of writing for oceanographers at NASA, director of various writing workshops, contributor to humorous publications, and editor for scholarly articles and books. Bonnie Carter Travis lives in Madison, Mississippi with her husband.