whose ability to cook she appreciated. Patten did cookery demonstrations, once touring the world, and also appearing at the London Palladium on 12 occasions. Books Patten wrote many best-selling cookery books. In 1961, at a time when cookery books were mainly illustrated in black and white, her publisher Paul Hamlyn produced a glossy book, Cookery In Colour, that proved influential on later publications. The Everyday Cook Book in Colour had sold in excess of one million copies by 1969. She has since sold 17 million copies of her 170 books. Patten continued to contribute to TV and radio food programmes into her late nineties, following a brief retirement in her seventies. Her approach to cookery instruction included teaching essential knowledge and skills needed in the kitchen. Her advice and books were instrumental in improving the quality of British cookery in the post-war years, when rationing meant that more exotic dishes were impossible to prepare. She has been an influence on other well-known cooks such as Nigel Slater and Gary Rhodes, who called her one of his two culinary heroes. Her 1972 part-work 'Perfect Cooking' was made into an art installation, a paper-weave, by British artist Martin Slidel, and exhibited at The Paper Factory, London (UK), in 2006. Honours She was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 1991 Birthday Honours for "services to the Art of Cookery" and Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours. In 2007, she received the Woman of the Year Lifetime Achievement Award. She was the subject of This Is Your Life in 2000 when she was surprised by Michael Aspel during the Food Show at Birmingham's NEC. Her books Cookery in Colour and International Cookery in Colour were featured on the channel of YouTuber "The Infinite Review". Death Patten's death was announced on 10 June 2015. She died on Thursday 4 June aged 99, "from an illness stoically borne" according to her family. She had suffered a stroke in June 2011 which had robbed her of speech, and towards the end of her life, she could no longer stand, thus preventing her from cooking. References External links Marguerite Patten on BBC Radio 4 (includes sound clip) Bibliography generated by the British Library People from Bath, Somerset People educated at Queen Elizabeth's School for Girls English chefs English food writers English television chefs Women