Gregory Swenson

Gregory Swenson was born December 12, 1962 in Paxton, IL USA to Leila and Everett Swenson. At the age of 18 he attended the American Academy of Art in Chicago, IL. He worked as a layout/paste-up artist for a textbook publisher at the University of Illinois, Urbana, IL before pursuing his 30+ year career as a professional florist. Mr. Swenson became one of the premier party/event florists in St. Louis, MO before moving to the small Ionian island of Zakynthos, Greece. Greg is a lifelong fan of the actor James Dean and loves food and cooking. In 2014-15, Gregory compiled and wrote a historical cookbook entitled Recipes for Rebels: In the kitchen with James Dean. The book premiered at the 2015 James Dean Festival in Fairmount, IN on the 60th Anniversary of the actor's death. As a product of years of extensive research, the book contains over 200 recipes from nearly 100 friends, family, and co-stars of James Dean. It accurately and vividly portrays the food of the 1930s, 40s, and 50s America that James Dean loved, with history, anecdotes, and photos. Greg was interviewed for the Documentary, Deaners: The Movie, by David Garry and his crew at the 2015 James Dean Festival. Mr. Swenson blogs about the actors and recipes from his book.