Francesca’s Fruitcake Tradition

Francesca Turner, founder of the Tony Patiño Fellowship, was a fan of fruitcakes. Each year around the holidays, friends, Fellows, and law school faculty all came to eagerly expect the weighty ring of dried and jellied fruit, delivered in a quaint holiday tin.

Hastings Fellow Betty Richardson recalls:

“Francesca’s fruitcake tradition was such a big deal – I remember Hastings Professor Stephen Schwarz worrying that he had landed on Francesca’s “naughty list” when, through some mailing error, his colleagues received their fruitcakes and his did not arrive.”

So, if you’re feeling nostalgic, or just looking for a last-minute holiday gift, we invite you to reconnect to this Fellowship tradition by indulging in a slice of the season’s most loved – and loathed – sweet treat. (Francesca’s preferred fruitcake was from Collins Street Bakery, based in her home state of Texas.)