Q&A with David Coggins
I first learned about David Coggins through my aunt Laurie who gifted me his illustrated memoir, Paris in Winter, shortly after it came out. Little did I know just how much I would lose myself in his lyrical language and lighthearted watercolor illustrations. The book chronicles decades of the author’s New Year’s sojourns to the city with his family — the poetic vignettes are both charming and heartwarming. I often think about his beautiful stories, like his wife, Wendy, telling their children she loved them “across the white table and the forest of wine glasses,” or the hot wine with cinnamon he sipped at Le Petit Saint Benoit, or the way their son spelled out “merci” in frites on his plate. I can picture him and his family walking in their “fancies” to lunch at Le Grand Vefour, Wendy wearing her silver shoes with ribbons around the ankle, or circling the Place Vendome after dark. I agree with his sentiment that the square “would make a great outdoor ballroom. People could dance to a Chopin mazurka, minding the cobblestones of course…” Whenever I get nostalgic for Paris and her food, fashion, and art (which admittedly is often) I find myself picking up David’s book and teleporting there, if just for a moment or two…
