From Cancer to Cookbooks: The Story of Clementine Paddleford*
Andrew G. Shuman, MD, Head and Neck Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY The story of Clementine Paddleford, a laryngeal cancer survivor, who thereafter became the most famous culinary journalist of her time, would be remarkable in any era. The fact that she accomplished this feat 80 years ago makes it simply extraordinary. Through archival research, the oft-forgotten tale of Clementine Paddleford may be shared with a new generation. An aspiring journalist from Kansas, Paddleford developed hoarseness shortly after arriving in New York in 1931; subsequent workup confirmed laryngeal cancer. Perhaps no individual better encapsulates the potential consequences of head and neck cancer than does a food writer; speech and swallowing are truly indispensable. In an era when vocal rehabilitation after total laryngectomy was severely limited and conservation laryngeal procedures were still being developed, Paddleford and her surgeon at New York Hospital agreed to proceed with partial laryngectomy. Thereafter, she persevered, never accepting that she was disabled. Her permanent metal tracheotomy tube morphed into a fashion statement, and her distinctive dysphonia became her calling card. Paddleford penned a column with a weekly readership measured in the millions, and served as the food editor for a major newspaper in Manhattan during a decades-long tenure. She would pilot an airplane across the country, writing about regional cuisine decades before the topic became popular. Paddleford’s success reminds us that cancer survivorship is not only measured in months or years. Even in modern surgical oncology’s infancy, functional outcomes were carefully considered, and quality of life was prized. As a testament to individual willpower and the ability of doctors and patients to forge partnerships with common goals, Paddleford’s legacy lives on. *Based on Dr Shuman’s presentation at the Otolaryngology Historical Society’s 2012 meeting at the Cosmos Club, Washington, DC, September 10, 2012. For a fuller description, please see the October issue of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.
Andrew G. Shuman, MD, Head and Neck Service, Department of Surgery, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY

The story of Clementine Paddleford, a laryngeal cancer survivor, who thereafter became the most famous culinary journalist of her time, would be remarkable in any era. The fact that she accomplished this feat 80 years ago makes it simply extraordinary.
Through archival research, the oft-forgotten tale of Clementine Paddleford may be shared with a new generation. An aspiring journalist from Kansas, Paddleford developed hoarseness shortly after arriving in New York in 1931; subsequent workup confirmed laryngeal cancer. Perhaps no individual better encapsulates the potential consequences of head and neck cancer than does a food writer; speech and swallowing are truly indispensable.
In an era when vocal rehabilitation after total laryngectomy was severely limited and conservation laryngeal procedures were still being developed, Paddleford and her surgeon at New York Hospital agreed to proceed with partial laryngectomy.
Thereafter, she persevered, never accepting that she was disabled. Her permanent metal tracheotomy tube morphed into a fashion statement, and her distinctive dysphonia became her calling card.

Paddleford penned a column with a weekly readership measured in the millions, and served as the food editor for a major newspaper in Manhattan during a decades-long tenure. She would pilot an airplane across the country, writing about regional cuisine decades before the topic became popular.
Paddleford’s success reminds us that cancer survivorship is not only measured in months or years. Even in modern surgical oncology’s infancy, functional outcomes were carefully considered, and quality of life was prized. As a testament to individual willpower and the ability of doctors and patients to forge partnerships with common goals, Paddleford’s legacy lives on.
*Based on Dr Shuman’s presentation at the Otolaryngology Historical Society’s 2012 meeting at the Cosmos Club, Washington, DC, September 10, 2012.
For a fuller description, please see the October issue of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery.