Cookbook author Sheila Brass of The Brass Sisters has died

Today is a day of mourning as the world copes with the loss of one of its most iconic individuals, Queen Elizabeth II, England’s longest-ruling monarch. Food & Wine published a feature earlier this year about how the Queen affected dining habits the world over. The term ‘end of an era’ is often overused, but it certainly applies here. Whether you are a royalist or not, there is no denying the outsized influence of the Queen.

Cookbook aficionados have another reason to be sad, as Marilynn Brass just announced the death of her sister, Sheila Brass, at age 85. Marilyn posted a short tribute on Facebook announcing her sister’s passing, noting Sheila’s long and difficult battle with Alzheimer’s disease. Marilyn said her sister “was never happier than when she was feeding and entertaining groups of people.”

The duo collaborated on a string of successful cookbooks, starting with Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters: More than 100 Years of Recipes Discovered from Family Cookbooks, Original Journals, Scraps of Paper, and Grandmother’s Kitchen, published in 2006, followed two years later by Heirloom Cooking with the Brass Sisters. Their final book launched in 2015. According to a listing on Amazon, the James Beard Award finalists “launched a whole new cookbook category with their ‘heirloom’ baking recipes.”