Klecko in conversation with Mary Ann Grossmann

About the Book:

"A Bakeable Feast" by Klecko is a memoir of 45 years as a bread baker, poet, emcee and keen observer of a host of co-workers and colleagues from across the globe. Each 'Baking Memory' is a page in length and tells the stories of individuals who have populated the bread crew over the years - the memories vary from sweet to ribald, from funny to tragic, and everything in between. There are stories of drug users, Nutcracker collectors, pastry chefs, blizzards, holidays, loneliness, chess clubs, music, movies, nuns, magic, Munchkins, shuttered bakeries and Klecko's travels to Russia. He also writes of the opportunity that put him on the map in his hometown of St. Paul - baking a loaf of bread specifically for Mikhail Gorbachev when he visited Minnesota's capital. Klecko is one-of-a-kind - a talented baker, gifted writer and compelling storyteller. In the tradition of "Kitchen Confidential" by Anthony Bourdain, "A Bakeable Feast" takes the reader beyond the quest for our daily bread and honors the people - the "tribe" - that master bread baker Klecko has met along the way.

About The Author:

Klecko is a 45+ year master bread baker, a Midwest Book Award winner and the author of six books including his latest, “A Bakeable Feast.” He hosts the F. Scott Fitzgerald Short Story Series for the St. Paul Public Library which will launch its second season in April. He is also a regular contributor to Metropolitan Diary in the New York Times.

About the Conversation Partner:

Mary Ann Grossmann joined the Dispatch-Pioneer Press in 1961 when there were two papers. She has been a fashion writer, a women's columnist and the women's department editor who brought "society" pages into the 20th century. She was named book editor in 1983, just when the local literary community exploded. She has won the Minnesota Book Awards Kay Sexton Award, a Page One Award and YWCA Leader Lunch Award. She retired in 2001 and works part time. She is a graduate of Macalester College and lives in St. Paul.