Harriet Welty Rochefort
Harriet Welty Rochefort grew up and was educated in the Midwest (B.A. University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and M.S.J. Northwestern Medill School of Journalism). She has lived in France since 1973 with her French husband Philippe. They have 3 sons, Nicolas, a neurologist in Marseilles, Benjamin, a computer specialist in San Diego, David, an editor and novelist (chez Gallimard NRF) in Paris, and 8 grandchildren.
An author, Harriet has written three humorous but informative nonfiction books about her life in France and the cultural differences she has perceived there as an « embedded » American, and an historical novel, Final Transgression, published in June 2020.
Her bestselling account of her first impressions of France, French Toast: An American in Paris Celebrates the Maddening Mysteries of the French (1999), remained in hardcover for 11 years before appearing in paperback in 2010. Diane Johnson, the renowned author of Le Divorce, called French Toast « a classic » and « the gold standard of books about the French ».
French Toast was followed by French Fried: The Culinary Capers of an American in Paris (2001), a personal account of French wining and dining viewed from her mother-in-law’s kitchen and interviews with leading French food and wine experts.
Joie de Vivre, Secrets of Wining, Dining, and Romancing Like the French (2012) delves into the French penchant for enjoying life with style and panache. Publisher’s Weekly wrote that « Rochefort…is a foreign observer of what it means to be French and, with wit and a unique insight, offers advice on loving life the way her adopted country does. »
Published by St. Martin’s Press, all of Harriet’s books about French manners and mores have been translated into Chinese. A French version of French Toast was published by Editions Ramsay in 2005.
Harriet’s fourth book, Final Transgression: One Woman’s Tragic Destiny in War-torn France, is an historical novel inspired by true events that took place in the seething cauldron of the southwest of France three months before the D-Day victory and the tragedy of Oradour-sur-Glane. Published in June 2020, the novel has earned plaudits from, among others, eminent historian Robert O. Paxton, author of Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, who called it “historically well-grounded” and a “vigorous and compelling tale.”
Harriet is a member of several professional writers’ organizations. They include The Authors Guild, and the Anglo-American Press Association in Paris where she has served on the board for many years.
A freelance journalist, Harriet has written scores of articles on French business, culture, travel and lifestyle for leading magazines and newspapers, including the International Herald Tribune (now the International New York Times), The Atlanta Journal and Constitution, Huffington Post, and Time magazine where she worked as a reporter in the Paris bureau for more than ten years. Articles included the Klaus Barbie trial in Lyons, the arrival of Disneyland near Paris and the controversy over the building of the Pei Pyramid in the courtyard of the Louvre. Her writing on France and the French has appeared in various publications including France Today, European Travel & Life, the San Francisco Chronicle, Paris Metro and France Discovery Guide.
A teacher and speaker, Harriet taught a reporting course in the international program of the Ecole de Journalisme at the renowned Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) from 2007 to 2011. She has given lively lectures on France and French-American cultural differences to associations, travel groups, and university programs, such as the Sweet Briar Year Abroad, Smith/ParisTech Telecom and the International Media Seminar at the American University in Paris. She has spoken about her books at many venues in the U.S. and in France, including the American Library in Paris Evenings with an Author.
A true Francophile, Harriet loves French cooking which she learned from her French mother-in-law who hailed from the Périgord, and has a particular affinity for cheese and wine and the pairing of them. (For many years she and her husband hosted popular wine and cheese tastings in their home in Paris). Harriet’s favorite French attire and accessories: les foulards et la petite robe noire; favorite wine: champagne; favorite French region: Brittany and the Atlantic islands: Ile d’Yeu, Belle Isle, Ile d’Aix. While her home is in Paris, Harriet knows the rest of the country well, having reported on its 13 different regions.
All of Harriet’s books can be found on amazon.com