Anna Thomas wrote her first cookbook while she was a film student at UCLA. The Vegetarian Epicure of 1973 became a phenomenal success, was translated into various languages, sold over a million copies, and remains a classic.
Thomas continued to cook and to write about food while making films and raising a family. A screenwriter and filmmaker, her work on the film El Norte with her husband and creative partner Gregory Nava earned the couple an Academy Award nomination. Thomas is also a two-time James Beard Award winner.
When she found herself in a tiny, temporary kitchen during a long construction project, Thomas wrote her fourth book, Love Soup, about cooking simply and eating well by embracing the soup life. Love Soup went on to win the James Beard Book Award. In Thomas’ newest book, Vegan Vegetarian Omnivore: Dinner For Everyone at the Table, she addresses the modern-day problem of how to cook delicious meals that will satisfy a wide mix of dietary restrictions and preferences among groups of friends and family, from strict vegans to relaxed vegetarians to dedicated carnivores.
Thomas’ food writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Gourmet Magazine, Bon Appetit, Fine Cooking, and many editions of the Edible Communities. She lives in Ojai and Los Angeles, California, where she continues her cooking and filmmaking adventures and teaches screenwriting at the American Film Institute Conservatory.