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When Shirley Autry moved to Wilmington, Del., with her husband, Dr. Timothy Autry, her palate expanded to accommodate the delights of the Chesapeake Bay area.
Rich in seafood, the area was rife with recipes that utilized the fruits of the sea, or in this instance, the bay. One of Autry's favorites was the blue crabs that are so plentiful in the Chesapeake Bay. She said she was introduced to them by friends in Delaware who would buy them by the bushel, season them heartily and steam them in beer.
Autry said the steaming blue crabs were served on tables lined with newspaper (to make clean up easier), and the only utensils were mallets and your hands.
"At first, I didn't know what to make of that," she said. "But I learned to eat them. There really is an art to that. It's a lot of work for a little bit of meat, but they're really delicious."
Autry and her husband lived in the Chesapeake Bay area for four years, three in Wilmington and one in Silver Spring, Md. In Silver Spring, she fell in love with the delectable crab cakes that nearly every restaurant there serves. One of her neighbors shared a crab cake recipe with Autry. But she does not enjoy time-intensive work in the kitchen, so she took the crab cake ingredients and devised a crab salad that is very impressive. She shared her recipe with me.
While we chopped vegetables and aromatics, Autry talked about her life. She taught school for 42 years -- nine in her native Kinston, N.C., three in Delaware, one in Silver Spring and 29 at Felton Laboratory School at South Carolina State University.
"My philosophy of education was, and is, that all children could be successful students," she said. "I have always believed that every child can learn, that every child can enjoy some success in school.
"I am convinced that those experiences translate to success in later life."
After retiring, Autry continues to be a positive force in the lives of children by working with the Pact Academy, a tutoring program at Felton.
"I need to make it clear that the Pact Academy is not just for students who need help with math -- it's also for students who want to continue to achieve beyond the average," she said. "Many of the students that I work with are there because they want to excel in math."
Autry's career has been a source of pride in her life. She keeps informed on the successes of her former students, and her face light up when she talks about them. She always has a humorous story about her students.
"I have always been a very stern teacher," she said, laughing. "So, my students were always trying to please me. I know some of them were scared of me, but I made it clear that it, my happiness, depended upon them doing their work. When we had a happy class, it was an achieving class. When the class was not achieving, it wasn't good. And when I wasn't happy, no one in the class could be happy. Just a little something to make them work harder."
Another source of pride for Autry is her affiliation with Delta Sigma Theta Sorority. In early 2007, she received her 50-year pin with the organization. She said she was influenced to join Delta Sigma Theta while a student at Fayetteville State University in Fayetteville, N.C.
"I was impressed by the way the other Deltas on campus carried themselves," she said. "They were not pushy and were very ladylike. I could appreciate that. It made them standout to me. So, when the Greek organizations had rush week, I was sort of naturally drawn to the Deltas."
Autry was awarded her 50-year pin by the national president of Delta Sigma Theta. It was almost like history repeating itself.
"When I received my 25-year pin, I received it from the national president at that time," Autry said. "I suppose when I get my 75-year pin, it will be from a national president as well," she added, laughingly.
As we made a toast for her stint in Delta and the other successes in her life, I felt it a great time to toast the delicious crab salad that we were completing about the same time she was finishing one of her stories.
As I complimented her, she told me she developed a penchant for seafood and salads as a teen, because making the salads became her donation to dinner in her grandparents' home. She said her taste for seafood developed because she was the only Catholic in her household.
"At that time, Catholics couldn't eat meat on Fridays, so I learned to make tuna salad for the Friday meal," she said. "And everyone in my family honored that with me. My grandfather always made sure there was tuna or some kind of fish for us on Fridays. My grandparents were very special that way. "
And having spent time with Autry over the delectable crab salad, her grandparents raised a very special person.
Cheers, Mrs. Autry.
Shirley Autry's Crab Salad
3 cups crab meat
1 medium green pepper, chopped finely
1/2 medium onion, chopped finely
8 boiled eggs, chopped
2 tablespoons sweet relish
1 tablespoon mustard
2 tablespoons Old Bay seasoning
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 cup mayonnaise
Place all ingredients in a large bowl, and fold together just enough to blend.