Alexandra Howard interviews veteran cheese distributor and former American Cheese Society President Kathleen Shannon Finn, for culture's spring issue

The essence of my career is that it’s kind of been one accident after another that’s landed me in wonderful places. Originally, I was going to be an English teacher, but instead of teaching English I ended up educating about cheese.

The role of a good distributor is to honor the cheese. And sometimes it is better for a cheese not to be in distribution outside its local area. I wish I had learned that much earlier in my career and counseled some of our American specialty-cheese makers outside my area to keep their fragile cheeses local. In the early years I wanted everything for everyone, but it just isn’t right for the cheese and, of course, ultimately for the cheesemaker. Now I dream of Americans traveling to little nooks and crannies of the United States to taste cheeses they can find only in that one place.

I’m disappointed to see that people who have been in cheese for like a year think they know it all. I was in cheese for over 30 years, and I still don’t know it all. I learn something every day.

Back when I first began, we used to get things by accident. We would get cheeses in that weren’t even labeled—mystery cheeses, we called them. We would taste them and make up a name. With all the regulations, that doesn’t happen anymore.

Back when I first began, we used to get things by accident. We would get cheeses in that weren’t even labeled—mystery cheeses, we called them. We would taste them and make up a name. With all the regulations, that doesn’t happen anymore.

When I first retired I thought, “Now I can work on my legacy.” But I realized that legacy building is what you do throughout your career; your legacy is what you have done all along. So I’m not working on my legacy; I’m working on my give-back.

I’d like to see the pretension around cheese disappear. I don’t know how it happened, but over the past 15-plus years we seem to have overcomplicated cheese for the consumer. We have taught them they must pair it with this or that wine, cracker, nut, or condiment. Or they must use the cheese in a particular recipe. While that is all great fun, when we think we have to do something with or to the cheese, we think we have to know more . . . and we have gotten away from honoring the cheese itself.

Interview by Alexandra Howard