Peg Bracken

Former advertising executive who published the best-selling cookbook, “I Hate to Cook Book.” She sold more than three million copies and relieved the anxieties of millions of American women who did not like slaving over a hot stove. Bracken, a full-time employee and a reluctant cook, pooled her friends' recipes that did not take hours to prepare. Her wry take on cooking helped women save time by cutting steps in the kitchen and using convenient mixes as key ingredients. She wrote several other cookbooks in her life with the same sarcastic spin.