At the risk of becoming the food obit blogger, I think it’s important to note the passing of writer David Foster Wallace, who was found dead in his California home on Friday, allegedly by his own hand. His famed 2004 "Gourmet" essay "Consider the Lobster" chronicled the life and times of the crustacean and the lobgasmic spectacle that is the Maine Lobster Festival. But it also sparked massive controversy in the food world over how Wallace portrayed consumers, marine biologists, animal rights activists and lobstermen & women – by delving into the ethics of cooking and eating the lifeblood of the state. It really hit a nerve with the magazine’s readers, many of whom felt that "Gourmet" shouldn’t have run a story that derided how a widely beloved gourmet food item was prepared. The editors stood by the reporting – and supported DFW’s style – though I have yet to see another "Gourmet" piece spark the same outcry, even when touching on gavage, animal slaughter and biotech crops. As a writer, reader reaction is one of the things that can make us the most proud. And, oftentimes, the most tortured.   

Jessica Strelitz is a contributing writer to Maine Food & Lifestyle magazine.