Before Virginia Shaw died, her husband Robert said he was spoiled. But after losing his companion four years ago, the International Falls native had to adjust to life as a bachelor.

“Virginia worked in the kitchen and kept a well-ordered house,” Shaw said. “After she died, I didn’t know anything about those things.”

Shaw said learning to cook and keep up a house was a “bitter experience,” and it led him to writing the book, “The Bachelor Slob in the Kitchen.”

The book, Shaw writes, is “gentle assistance and counsel for persons who are retired, are not independently wealthy, loathe the preparation of food, and despise housekeeping in general.”

Shaw admits there is a chance humor can be found in the pages of his how-to book, but its main purpose is for people who live alone — mostly men, he said — to read the recommendations of his own experiences and apply them to reduce household chores and to save time and money.

A lifetime of writing

Shaw graduated from Falls High School in 1940. After receiving his high school diploma, he went on to spend four years with the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II.

“After I got home from the war, I went to the University of Minnesota, where I graduated with a bachelor’s degree in liberal arts in 1949,” he said.

The author continued his education by getting his master’s degree in journalism. Throughout the years, he worked for several newspapers and the Associated Press.

“I was also an assistant professor of journalism at the University of Washington in Seattle,” Shaw noted.

Toward the end of his career, Shaw came back to Minnesota and spent 19 years as the manager of the Minnesota Newspaper Association.

“Writing has always been in my life,” he said.

His professional background influenced Shaw to write his first book “Life in the Back Shop.” The book was a mixture of stories describing the lives of people who worked with the letter press and printer and how “dirty and dangerous” their lives were.

What would she think?

Shaw said “The Bachelor Slob in the Kitchen” didn’t take him very long to write and hopes that his tips and timesavers can be helpful to people living in similar situations. Among the strategies Shaw suggests to his readers are: multi-tasking with a frying pan by frying eggs, toast, and potatoes at the same time; making coffee on the stove; and eating with fingers.

He said he kept Virginia in mind while writing it, but is unsure what her reaction would be to the book.

“I’m sure my wife would be horrified to see the way I eat my food now,” he said.

Shaw added that he wishes he would have included more advice he has come across since his second book was released, including how to fix a hole in a sock.

“Don’t throw the sock away,” he said with a chuckle. “Rotate it on your foot so the hole will come in a different place. In my case, I don’t know how to sew up a hole, and I don’t want to learn, either.”

For $15, Shaw’s book is available in several book stores or online at www.BeaversPondBooks.com.