Forty-four years ago this past February, this writer’s first column, then called The Joy of Eating featured John Lee Callis, a gentleman who loves to cook. His belief is, “It’s fun to see people enjoying what they eat.”

In 1979 John Lee was teaching school, which he did for 30 years; he also worked as the Gazette-Journal’s sport editor for 12 years.

At his home on Gwynn’s Island, he pursued another profession. John Lee was a baker and well known for his elaborately decorated cakes. It was a business. However, he made pies for pleasure. “I’m not a crust maker, the frozen ones do as well. I use a hand mixer for my meringue,” he said then.

A decade later and on the 10th anniversary of this column John Lee was featured again. He was still teaching, writing about sports, and turning out those delicious cakes and pies with the high meringue. “I make my own crust and have a new recipe for it and my meringues.”

As time went on John Lee retired from teaching and commercial cooking,...