{"id":2455808,"date":"2026-06-12T05:22:15","date_gmt":"2026-06-12T05:22:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2455808"},"modified":"2026-06-12T05:22:15","modified_gmt":"2026-06-12T05:22:15","slug":"marin-chef-reflects-on-cooking-for-music-legends-living-with-cancer-in-new-book-marin-independent-journal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/marin-chef-reflects-on-cooking-for-music-legends-living-with-cancer-in-new-book-marin-independent-journal\/","title":{"rendered":"Marin chef reflects on cooking for music legends, living with cancer in new book \u2013 Marin Independent Journal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div>\n<div class=\"article-slideshow\" id=\"mng-gallery-751ec9801ae2b0f60af6029ae3e887d8\"><button class=\"icon-close mng-gallery-fullscreen-close\" aria-label=\"Close fullscreen slideshow\"\/><\/p>\n<ul class=\"mng-gallery-initialized mng-gallery-slider\"><button id=\"mng-gallery-prev\" class=\"mng-gallery-prev mng-gallery-arrow\" aria-label=\"Previous\" type=\"button\"\/><\/p>\n<div class=\"mng-gallery-list draggable\">\n<div class=\"mng-gallery-track\">\n<li data-index=\"1\" class=\"mng-ge mng-gallery-active\" id=\"mng-ge-0\" aria-hidden=\"false\" tabindex=\"0\">\n<div class=\"image-wrapper\"><\/p>\n<p>Gaynell Rogers is behind \u201cGaynell\u2019s Kitchen: Down Home Cooking from a Wayward Southern Belle.&#8221; (Photo by Kim Sayre Photography)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"2\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-1\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"image-wrapper\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Gaynell Rogers managed West Marin folk icon Ramblin' Jack Elliott,...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data-sizes=\"auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-02.jpeg?w=620\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-02.jpeg?w=620 620w,https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-02.jpeg?w=780 780w,https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-02.jpeg?w=810 810w,https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-02.jpeg?w=1280 1280w,https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-02.jpeg?w=1860 1860w\" bad-src=\"https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-02.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Gaynell Rogers managed West Marin folk icon Ramblin&#8217; Jack Elliott, right. (Courtesy of the Rogers Family Archive)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"3\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-2\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"image-wrapper\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"(Photo by Kim Sayre Photography)\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data-sizes=\"auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-03.jpeg?w=481\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-03.jpeg?w=481 620w,https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-03.jpeg?w=481 780w,https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-03.jpeg?w=481 810w,https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-03.jpeg?w=481 1280w,https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-03.jpeg?w=481 1860w\" bad-src=\"https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-03.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>(Photo by Kim Sayre Photography)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<li data-index=\"4\" class=\"mng-ge\" id=\"mng-ge-3\" aria-hidden=\"true\" tabindex=\"-1\">\n<div class=\"image-wrapper\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Roy and Gaynell Rogers pictured in front of Galatoire's in...\" class=\"lazyload size-article_inline\" data-sizes=\"auto\" src=\"https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-06-e1781204363382.jpeg?w=480\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-06-e1781204363382.jpeg?w=480 620w,https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-06-e1781204363382.jpeg?w=480 780w,https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-06-e1781204363382.jpeg?w=480 810w,https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-06-e1781204363382.jpeg?w=480 1280w,https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-06-e1781204363382.jpeg?w=480 1860w\" bad-src=\"https:\/\/www.marinij.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/MIJ-L-LIB-COL-0612-06-e1781204363382.jpeg\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Roy and Gaynell Rogers pictured in front of Galatoire&#8217;s<br \/>\nin New Orleans. (Courtesy of Rogers Family Archive)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><button id=\"mng-gallery-next\" class=\"mng-gallery-next mng-gallery-arrow\" aria-label=\"Next\" type=\"button\"\/><\/ul>\n<div class=\"caption mng-gallery-information-container\"><button class=\"caption-expand mng-gallery-caption-expand\" aria-expanded=\"false\" aria-label=\"Show caption\">Show Caption<\/button><\/p>\n<p><span class=\"current mng-gallery-current-image-number-display\">1<\/span> of <span class=\"total\">4<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Gaynell Rogers is behind \u201cGaynell\u2019s Kitchen: Down Home Cooking from a Wayward Southern Belle.&#8221; (Photo by Kim Sayre Photography)<\/p>\n<p><a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"#\" class=\"icon-enlarge mng-gallery-fullscreen-expand\" aria-label=\"Expand fullscreen slideshow\"><span>Expand<\/span><\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>In her new cookbook and memoir, \u201cGaynell\u2019s Kitchen: Down Home Cooking from a Wayward Southern Belle,\u201d Gaynell Rogers writes about a dinner she once hosted at her hillside Novato home for Bonnie Raitt, Taj Mahal and Charlie Musselwhite.<\/p>\n<p>Everyone gathered in the dining room \u2014 painted in warm Tuscan colors inspired by her trips to cooking schools in Italy \u2014 for a meal of seafood gumbo, buttermilk cornbread, orange almond salad and cheesecake.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m proud to say that I think we created places for people to check their celebrity at the door and just have a good time,\u201d she said when I spoke to her recently.<\/p>\n<p>She recalled that after that dinner, her husband of 42 years, the celebrated blues slide guitarist Roy Rogers, played an obscure 78 rpm recording of blues legend Howlin\u2019 Wolf that none of these famed roots musicians had heard before.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat was just a really magical night, a great evening,\u201d she said. \u201cIt was one of many historic parties and dinners we had at that house.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The recipes for that dinner are featured with many other Southern-style dishes in \u201cGaynell\u2019s Kitchen,\u201d available for $45 through her website, <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/gaynellskitchen.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">gaynellskitchen.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>She will also be on hand to talk about her book when her husband and his band, the Delta Rhythm Kings, play an acoustic outdoor dinner show featuring songs from his new album, \u201cThe Sky\u2019s the Limit,\u201d at 7 p.m. June 19 at Rancho Nicasio. Tickets are $40 at <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/ranchonicasio.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ranchonicasio.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>It will be the first in a series of joint appearances the couple is billing as \u201cThe Wayward Sessions: Gaynell Rogers and Roy Rogers, Stories from the Kitchen and the Stage.\u201d They plan a tour of the Northwest later this summer and fall.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo both have a project out at the same time \u2014 her book and my album \u2014 is awesome, and it\u2019s been fun,\u201d Roy Rogers said. \u201cWe\u2019re fortunate that we can do this. It\u2019s serendipity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"jeg_video_container jeg_video_content\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Roy Rogers - Those Bygone Days (Lyric Video)\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WCUd3o91t6Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Born in New Orleans and raised in Florida, Gaynell Rogers, 75, discovered a talent for cooking for artist and musician friends while living in the South. After moving to the Bay Area in the 1970s, she became a well-known publicist, artist manager, marketing consultant and entrepreneur. In \u201cGaynell\u2019s Kitchen,\u201d she recounts a wealth of stories from her 30 years in the trenches of the music business and film industry.<\/p>\n<p>In a section titled \u201cWayward Stories,\u201d she writes about cooking fried chicken and collard greens for blues legend Big Mama Thornton, serving Wynton Marsalis organic jambalaya, managing the irrepressible Ramblin\u2019 Jack Elliott and fending off the velvety and very busy hands of bluesman John Lee Hooker, among other juicy tales and anecdotes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe fact she\u2019s written a memoir as well as a cookbook is great,\u201d Roy Rogers said, \u201cbecause all those stories are true.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She acknowledges that traditional Southern cooking, delicious as it is, isn\u2019t as healthy as it could be, noting that the South leads the nation in heart disease, diabetes and obesity. So she\u2019s modified her recipes to contain less salt, fat and sugar. In fact, the idea for the book was sparked when she took a yearlong course in healthy cooking at Bauman College: Holistic Nutrition and Culinary Arts. For her thesis, she took 10 traditional Southern recipes and modified them to make them all organic and natural.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou\u2019ll find recipes here that try to keep the soul of the South intact,\u201d she writes, adding, \u201c\u2019Healthy\u2019 and \u2018Southern\u2019 don\u2019t have to be an oxymoron.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Before she gets into her recipes, though, there\u2019s a chapter devoted to the most serious challenge and greatest accomplishment in her fascinating life \u2014 surviving four different cancers and five surgeries over the past 28 years.<\/p>\n<p>After beating breast cancer, colon cancer and uterine tumors, she was diagnosed in 2023 with stage 4 metastatic leiomyosarcoma, an extremely rare disease that accounts for just 1% of all adult cancers.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLooking back, it\u2019s hard to believe I\u2019m still standing, but I am,\u201d she writes. \u201cFeeding people at my tables and kitchen counter while fighting cancer has brought me joy, grounded me and kept me feeling alive and connected to the ones I love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Her current regimen includes traveling several times a week from Marin to Palo Alto for treatments in Stanford Medicine\u2019s pioneering linear accelerator radiation oncology program.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBoy, it\u2019s so high tech,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s like walking into a spaceship.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>She also gets a 24-hour chemotherapy infusion every 21 days and a scan every three months \u2014 she calls it her \u201cScanapalooza\u201d \u2014 to see how the treatments are going.<\/p>\n<p>While seeking out the most cutting-edge science at Stanford and MD Anderson, a major cancer clinic in Houston, Texas, she has also been an advocate for cannabis as part of her cancer treatment.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCannabis helped me to sleep; it eased my anxiety and took the edge off the wicked mood swings those cancer drugs unleashed,\u201d she writes in a chapter that includes advice for the newly diagnosed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s an earth-shaking moment,\u201d she said. \u201cAnd what I\u2019ve learned in the 28 years of fighting cancer is that the lens has changed for advanced cancer. And now there\u2019s a new term: living with cancer. It\u2019s possible and it\u2019s probable more now than ever because of health sciences and AI (artificial intelligence), which have affected cancer care in a very positive way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>After 20 years in Marin, raising two children, the couple moved to a rustic home with high ceilings and a big front porch in the Tahoe National Forest near Nevada City, where they have lived since 2007. They are now back in the North Bay to be closer to her doctors, their daughter and their 2 \u00bd-year-old granddaughter.<\/p>\n<p>With the new book, she suddenly finds herself in the spotlight, talking about a cookbook\/memoir that\u2019s more than just a collection of recipes.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve always been a behind-the-scenes person, so I\u2019m outing myself with this book because my cancer journey made me feel that I had a story to tell and I needed to tell it,\u201d she said. \u201cI thought this could bring value and lessons to people. And, hopefully, a little joy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>Contact Paul Liberatore at p.liberatore@comcast.net<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em> \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n<p><em> \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.marinij.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Gaynell Rogers is behind \u201cGaynell\u2019s Kitchen: Down Home Cooking from a Wayward Southern Belle.&#8221; (Photo by Kim Sayre Photography) Gaynell Rogers managed West Marin folk icon Ramblin&#8217; Jack Elliott, right. (Courtesy of the Rogers Family Archive) (Photo by Kim Sayre Photography) Roy and Gaynell Rogers pictured in front of Galatoire&#8217;s in New Orleans. (Courtesy of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2455809,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25179],"tags":[21792,391827,22691,341689,21741,21818,346220,21800,37713,343508,343509,482715,22482],"class_list":["post-2455808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-music","tag-arts-and-entertainment","tag-authors","tag-california","tag-cookbook","tag-entertainment","tag-lifestyle","tag-marin-county","tag-music","tag-newsletter","tag-north-bay","tag-northern-california","tag-paul-liberatore","tag-things-to-do"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/Marin-chef-reflects-on-cooking-for-music-legends-living-with.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2455808"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2455810,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2455808\/revisions\/2455810"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2455809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2455808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2455808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2455808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}