By Joshua Phelps
The Scene staff
Gloria Williams earned a bachelor’s degree, worked in health care, raised three sons and self-published four books before enrolling in the culinary arts program at Forest Park last spring.
Now the 72-year-old student is headed to France for a semester of cooking classes. The overseas trip will be her first.
“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity to explore another culture, and I found out that no one at Forest Park has ever gone to study culinary abroad,” Williams said. “I’ll be the first one to go.”
A friend has set up a GoFundMe campaign to help her raise the $10,000 she needs to cover airfare, room and board, tuition, books, health insurance and uniforms. The address is gofundme.com/gloria-pierce-williams.
Williams will be attending the Gastronomicom International Culinary School in Agde, in southern France. Forest Park culinary arts professor Michael Downing is happy for her.
“It’s a great opportunity to go out and meet other people (from) different cultures, experience foods that you can’t get here,” he said. “I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for anyone.”
Students, faculty and staff also can help Williams by purchasing her books, which are available in the campus bookstore or at Amazon.com. They sell for $10 to $20.
“She is an example of the great non-traditional students we have at St. Louis Community College, how creative they are, how you can learn a lot about resilience from them and about the importance of being a lifelong learner,” said Ellen Gough, manager of auxiliary services, which includes the bookstore.
Williams grew up in St. Louis in the 1940s and ’50s, when schools were still segregated, but she benefited from living in a close-knit community.
“Everything was right there, a school, a church, entertainment, and everybody was about the same economically,” she said.
Williams’ father died when she was 13, forcing her mother to work as a maid and house cleaner to provide for her four children.
“My mother kept us all together, and it was a normal childhood,” she said.
Williams was an avid reader, but it was difficult to get to the public library in downtown St. Louis. She borrowed books from a library on wheels.
“The bookmobile would come to our community, and you could only get five books every two weeks,” she said. “I’d read those five books before the two weeks were up, and I was ready for the next five books.”
After high school, Williams earned a bachelor’s degree in medical technology at St. Louis University 1968 and worked in laboratories for about 25 years. Her favorite part of the job was doing blood work and helping to determine what made patients sick.
Over the years, Williams wrote four books, including two novels, “Above and Not Beneath” and “Running Interference”; one memoir, “Trusted”; and a non-fiction book, “Big Mama’s Secrets of Survival.” But she didn’t self-publish any of the books until 2017.
“‘Above and Not Beneath’ is a third-generational story about two biracial children, a brother and sister, and (they’re) trying to make a decision to pass for black or white,” Williams said.
“‘Running Interference’ is a story of domestic violence and how it can be stopped, and four different men tell their story of how they got involved with domestic violence.”
Last year, Williams was at the Forest Park library, designing covers for her books, when she met a student who proudly asked if she wanted to see her diploma.
The resulting conversation led Williams to fulfill a dream by returning to college and enrolling in the culinary arts program. She has enjoyed the experience so far.
“I feel younger, being around the kids and studying for tests, going to the library and working on projects,” she said.
Williams found out about STLCC’s study-abroad program from a poster on a bulletin board. She called the number for information and found out that she needed to put down a $3,700 deposit to go to France.
That was the exact amount Williams was getting from an academic scholarship. She thought it was a “sign.”
“I am so excited,” she said. “I’m hoping to learn about the French, their sauces, the delicacy of their pastries, the placement of food on their plates, the use of fresh fruits and vegetables.”
Williams expects to graduate in 2019 or 2020, and she hopes to get a job in a restaurant.
“I want to work under a good chef,” she said. “I want to teach, and I want to write cookbooks about nutritious fresh food.”