Sheila Lukins, 66, the store owner and cookbook author who helped change how America eats, died Sunday at her Manhattan home of brain cancer. Born in Philadelphia, Lukins got her education in the fine arts. But in the 1970s, after she had spent some time at the Cordon Bleu in London and had worked with some chefs in France, she started a catering business in New York. In 1977, she co-founded The Silver Palate, a Manhattan shop that introduced people to flavors from places such as Greece and Morocco. In 1982, "The Silver Palate Cookbook" was released, one of a number of cookbooks Lukins would work on, including "All Around the World Cookbook" and "The New Basics Cookbook." Her books have sold several million copies. Lukins also was the food editor at Parade magazine. She was inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Who's Who of Food and Beverage in America in 1992. AP