In 1948, Robert Lawrence Balzer published
California’s Best Wines, marking the first of his eleven books. His writing on wine included articles for
Travel Holiday magazine for over twenty years, a weekly column in the
Los Angeles Times Magazine for three decades, and the
Private Guide to Food and Wine. He also hosted a daily radio program called
A Word on Wine on Los Angeles’ KFAC station. His final book,
Hollywood and Wine, featured personal stories about his interactions with Hollywood celebrities and wine experts. In the 1950s, Balzer worked for
United Press in
Asia while also producing propaganda for the US Information Service. After covering the coronation of Norodom Suramarit in March 1955, he was invited to stay for twelve days at the Wat Phrachumsagar temple in Cambodia, where he was ordained by Buddhist monk Bhante Dharmawara. Later, in 1955,
Bhante Dharmawara was brought to the U.S. by the USIA. Balzer also worked on a similar assignment in Japan in late 1959, during a time of heightened tensions between Japan and the U.S. after the AMPO riots. He reported on Zen and the 101-year-old abbot of
Hōkō-ji (Shizuoka), Shizan, in an effort to present a positive image of
Japan. In 1973, Balzer organized the New York Wine Tasting, which helped pave the way for the famous 1976
Judgment of Paris, where French and Californian wines were compared. He brought together fourteen prominent wine experts for the event, including winemaker Alexis Lichine and wine merchant Sam Aaron. Balzer also played a role in overseeing the food and wine arrangements for the presidential inaugurations of
Ronald Reagan in 1981 and 1985, and for
George H. W. Bush in 1989. He had friendships with several notable Hollywood figures, including
Cecil B. DeMille,
Alfred Hitchcock,
Marlon Brando,
Ingrid Bergman,
Olivia De Havilland, and
Gloria Swanson. ==Selected books==