Alan Scott of Oven Crafters

[devlin]

We're rebuilding our oven. Today we started tearing down in earnest, and as I was looking online for a couple of necessary parts, I came across the February 5 obituary for Alan Scott. I can't say I was completely surprised. I knew his health had been poor for some time, but I was still sort of blind sided by it. I hadn't seen any mention of it here, and if I'm repeating the news, apologies.

Alan Scott, 72, Artisan of the Brick Oven, Dies

By DENNIS HEVESI

Published: February 5, 2009

Alan Scott, whose blacksmith’s skill in using radiant heat led to a revival of the ancient craft of building brick ovens, allowing bakers to turn out bread with luxuriously moist interiors and crisp crusts, died Jan. 26 in Tasmania, Australia. He was 72.

The cause was congestive heart failure, said his daughter Lila Scott. Her father had returned to his native Australia several years ago after becoming ill, she said. Ms. Scott and her brother, Nicholas, now operate OvenCrafters, the company their father opened nearly 30 years ago in a large Victorian home in Petaluma, Calif.

Several thousand amateur bread bakers and thin-crust pizza makers now have backyard brick ovens, many with cathedral-like arches, that were built either by Mr. Scott, with Mr. Scott or according to specifications he laid out with his protégé Daniel Wing in their 1999 book, “The Bread Builders” (Chelsea Green Publishing).

More than a how-to manual, the book is also a meticulous treatise on the history of bread making and the physics of baking, with instructions, for example, on how long to let the dough rise. Mr. Scott, who held instructional workshops around the country, played a role in bringing brick ovens to hundreds of bakeries and restaurants as well.

.... for remainder of the obituary, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/06/dining/06scott.html?_r=5

[dougal]

Devlin, no apologies needed.

Sad news. But new news to me, and I'm sure many others who respected his work and would not normally see the NYT obituaries.

[devlin]

Devlin, no apologies needed.

Sad news. But new news to me, and I'm sure many others who respected his work and would not normally see the NYT obituaries.

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He was only 72 and seemed the sort of man who'd live forever. Although in many ways, of course, he will. When I started to think of the numbers of people who have been influenced by his work, it was sort of staggering.