Roy Finamore, the James Beard Foundation Award–winning author and editor of lifestyle books and cookbooks, died on May 6 after a brief illness. He was 70.
Finamore was hired as a lifestyle and design book editor by Stewart, Tabori & Chang in 1983, where his authors included Chris Madden, Tim Street-Porter, and Abbie Zabar. He joined Clarkson Potter in 1989 as a senior editor, and went on to publish award-winning and bestselling cookbooks by Jean Anderson, Lee Bailey, Tom Colicchio, Bobby Flay, Gale Gand, Ina Garten, Diana Kennedy, Martha Stewart, Carole Walter, and Anne Willan.
Finamore's first cookbook, One Potato, Two Potato, cowritten with Molly Stevens, was published by FSG in 2001. In its starred review, PW called the title “an impressive and wide-ranging potato bible.” In 2007, Finamore won the James Beard Award for best general cookbook for his second book, Tasty: Get Great Food on the Table Every Day.
Finamore was also a coauthor of numerous other cookbooks, including: Fish Without a Doubt: The Cook’s Essential Companion by Rick Moonan (2008); Dessert Fourplay: Sweet Quartets from a Four-Star Pastry Chef by Johnny Iuzzini (2008); Marcus Off Duty: The Recipes I Cook at Home by Marcus Samuelsson (2014); and The Grand Central Oyster Bar Restaurant & Cookbook by Sandy Ingber (2018).
Finamore is survived by his sisters and their spouses; a brother; and his nieces and nephews.
