He came to my college in 1995 or 96 while he was on the promotion tour for Three Ancient Cuisines. I spent a good portion of the upcoming weekends's beer money for a signed hard cover. After the signing he spoke in one of the lecture halls. Filled the place right up. I remember that he stressed the importance of family recipes, i.e. getting them from your grandmother before it was too late. I also remember him saying on his show that there could never be enough garlic. After the news came out I put his cookbooks away, but in the last few years I've taken them back out. The guy taught me how to cook when I was a teenager, and, more importantly, taught me that there was a whole world of food out there that I needed to eat.
