Where the Power People Find Power in Their Own Lives

Ruth Reichl

Former editor in chief of Gourmet magazine and author of Not Becoming My Mother (Penguin)

People often underestimate the power ofF... Family meals. If I could, I'd make every family sit down for dinner. One of the few times people actually pay attention to each other is when they're around a table.

I felt most powerful when... I learned how Gourmet magazine touched people's lives. We'd been covering sustainability, social justice, and bioethics issues, and our readers were paying attention.

A true sign of power is... The ability to change a life. I had an art professor, Milton Cohen, who taught me to find the beauty in every minute of every day. He turned me into a food person.