For this Southern Belle, Cooking is in Her Blood

Dining With Duvall by Lynn Duvall

At social events in La Cañada, I often see Mary Gant. She flutters over to me, like a butterfly, and tells a long, winding, wonderful story. Everywhere I go, I look to see if she is there. Last week Mary perched on a chair in her living room for an interview. Mary mentioned that she loves to cook greens. "It's part of my Southern background," Mary said. I expect gracious manners, impeccable grooming and long, fascinating stories from Inez Pickering, because I hear the Carolinas in her voice. I see the same traits in Mary, but I don't notice an accent.

"Southern background?" I asked. Mary replied, "I was born and raised in Virginia."

I laughed at Mary's response to "How did you meet your husband Daryal?" Mary said, "Daryal was in the Army, stationed in Virginia. I worked for the Army. We met on July 27, we were engaged on Aug. 27 and we married Oct. 26. We would have married even sooner, but my mother asked us to wait long enough for her to plan a nice wedding." Mary and Daryal Gant will celebrate their 49th wedding anniversary this year.

Shortly after the wedding, Daryal was discharged. The couple came to California, allowing Daryal to return to his alma mater, UCLA, for an MBA. In 1963, the Gants moved to La Crescenta to be closer to JPL, where Daryal was the director for business operations until his recent retirement.

"Brenda, our first daughter, was only one month old, when we moved into this house," Mary recalled. Later a second daughter, Tracey Michele, arrived. The girls attended Mountain Avenue Elementary School, Rosemont Middle school, and both were valedictorians at their graduations from Crescenta Valley High School.

Today, Brenda lives in Saudi Arabia with her husband and four children. Tracey Michele resides with her husband and two children in Mill Valley. "She has a doctorate in cellular biology, but Tracey Michele prefers not to work while her children are young," Mary added. Brenda spent 10 years managing a photography studio in Saudi Arabia for a prominent woman portrait photographer. Mary explained, "In Saudi Arabia, men are not allowed to photograph women, but women can photograph men, so only female photographers can take family portraits."