“150 Delicious Squares” was the launching pad for Ms. Paré’s career as cookbook author, publisher and, it turned out, marketer and saleswoman. She loaded boxes of books in the trunk of her Oldsmobile and traveled to rural towns, calling small stores, pharmacies, gift shops and even a lumber store to ask if they would sell her book.
She was a pioneer behind a Canadian trend of selling books “where people are every day, rather than just in bookstores,” said Pat Beilman, the national account manager for the company that now owns the series, Canada Book Distributors.
As the “Company’s Coming” brand grew, Ms. Paré worked with a staff to develop recipes in a test kitchen they called “the recipe factory.” As supermarkets arrived and ingredients became more readily available, the recipes changed, too. The company grew to more than 100 full-time employees, including recipe developers and testers, a nutritionist and a food economist.
But Ms. Paré continued to test the recipes herself and give final approval.
She also plugged in jokes, called “Paré’s Pointers,” throughout her books. “While at a church pot luck supper, eat lots. Food for the soul has no calories,” she wrote under a recipe for lemon smacks.
Ms. Paré and Mr. Lovig sold their business to Canada Book Distributors after she decided to retire in 2010 at 83. The company reprints Ms. Paré’s most popular titles and has added new books to the series.
Ms. Paré was “a Canadian culinary icon” who “made mealtimes more manageable for millions,” the Canadian food writer Julie Van Rosendaal wrote in a tribute.
“Perhaps most importantly,” she added, “she has made us feel more capable in the kitchen, emboldening us to feed ourselves and each other — one of the highest forms of love.”
Sara Bonisteel contributed reporting.
