Because Julia's fame went beyond her French Chef persona, she did not seem to be affected by the waning influence of French cuisine and the rise of Italian cookbooks and restaurants. Chef Roger Fessaguet (Pavilion) said she "created a generation who understood and appreciated French cooking. She did more than any of us." George Faison, co-founder of D'Artagnan, importer of foie gras and other specialty foods, says, "She sparked a transformation of American gastronomy, ... articulated the flavor, smell and texture of exotic ingredients.... Because of Julia, everything changed." She was the grande dame of all cuisine, the name synonymous with cooking in this country, as trustworthy as Walter Cronkite, as beloved as George Burns, as recognizable as the Pope.

BONFIRE OF THE VAINGLORIOUS.

In February 1992, before the official birthday parties began and in between the AIWF conference in New Orleans and the IACP conference in Miami (at which Julia was the keynote speaker), the AIWF executive committee was interviewing potential candidates when the following headline appeared in the Los Angeles Times: Los Angeles Times: "Julia Child 'Rabidly h.o.m.ophobic,' Lawsuit Alleges." "Julia Child 'Rabidly h.o.m.ophobic,' Lawsuit Alleges."

Daniel Coulter had filed a three-million-dollar lawsuit against Julia Child, the AIWF, and its directors for denying him the job as executive director of the AIWF because he was gay. The Boston Globe Boston Globe the next day carried more details of his charges: that his friend Richard Graff had suggested he apply, and that Dorothy Cann (chair of the board) told him their founder was "rabidly h.o.m.ophobic" and would undermine his effectiveness if he won the job. Speaking for the executive committee, Graff said that Coulter was not hired because he did not have fund-raising qualifications. Cann made no statement. Julia publicly (and accurately) said she "had nothing to do with the selection.... I haven't heard of Coulter or any of the applicants, so I don't have any comments at all." In the the next day carried more details of his charges: that his friend Richard Graff had suggested he apply, and that Dorothy Cann (chair of the board) told him their founder was "rabidly h.o.m.ophobic" and would undermine his effectiveness if he won the job. Speaking for the executive committee, Graff said that Coulter was not hired because he did not have fund-raising qualifications. Cann made no statement. Julia publicly (and accurately) said she "had nothing to do with the selection.... I haven't heard of Coulter or any of the applicants, so I don't have any comments at all." In the New York Times's New York Times's coverage, she was quoted as saying "I don't care who he or she is as long as they have the qualifications." In the spring issue of coverage, she was quoted as saying "I don't care who he or she is as long as they have the qualifications." In the spring issue of The Advocate The Advocate, a reporter for this gay journal said Julia was "incredulous that 'someone named Daniel Coulter' is blaming his own h.o.m.os.e.xuality-or rather her h.o.m.ophobia-for having been pa.s.sed over." This line was the only negative comment in an otherwise positive article about her. Privately, Julia called the lawsuit "silly" and observed that there was "very little backlash." Her chief concern was that the AIWF was going to have to spend money on lawyers just when it was almost in the black. Dorothy Cann privately denied the charges ("No, I do not not believe that Julia is h.o.m.ophobic. I believe she is a product of her age") and was disappointed that she never received a personal word of support from Julia. believe that Julia is h.o.m.ophobic. I believe she is a product of her age") and was disappointed that she never received a personal word of support from Julia.

Neither Child nor Cann was ever deposed, for Coulter's flimsy suit was settled immediately after his own deposition when he agreed to a small settlement from the AIWF. He had left them a $195 room service charge on the hotel bill when he was in town for his interview, according to two members of the executive committee. One of the men on the executive committee, who himself was gay, said, "Julia was the target because she had money. It was green mail, extortion, and it was slimy. It had nothing to do with Julia as a person because he had never known her. But the lawyer told us not to respond."

Julia's place in the food world seemed to be unaffected for several reasons: her almost untouchable stature with the public, the fact that she had close working relations with gay men, and because people knew that there were gays on the AIWF board, among the founding members, and working in the national office (including the man who did get the job). What Julia may have paid in bad public relations is difficult to a.s.sess.

The response from some in the gay community was dismay. One man gave away all of his beloved cookbooks when he mistakenly heard she had "fired someone on her staff for being gay." Another shrugged and said, "Like any other f.a.g sophisticate, I've always been rather a fan." A few contacted her directly: My G.o.d! Julia- You've been the G.o.ddess of the gays for 20 years!!! I've got a shelf full of your books! You are mentioned at every gay dinner party (with great affection). How could you get this reputation as a h.o.m.ophobe!!?[signed] Martin Martin Her response was not ringing. She spoke of unjustified claims. Whatever prejudice she shared with her generation and possibly with Paul-who occasionally expressed antih.o.m.os.e.xual views, according to his family and friends-she would never have acted upon it. The evidence of her private att.i.tude is mixed. On the one side is her close friendship with many gays, including Cora DuBois, Sybille Bedford, James Beard, and the children of some of her closest friends, as well as several pa.s.sages in letters (one encouraging a friend for being "out of the closet at last! Makes things easier all around"). She did, nevertheless, pick up the slang expressions for male h.o.m.os.e.xuals and in writing once (a decade earlier) expressed (to a close friend) her displeasure that gays seemed to dominate the food business, particularly the cooking schools, thus discouraging women and heteros.e.xual men. However, the letter can be read as an argument for inclusion of others rather than exclusion of gays.

"It's a world of self-generating hysteria," Nora Ephron quoted Nika Hazelton as saying about the food establishment more than twenty years before. Ephron, who was then reporting on the Michael Field versus Craig Claiborne feud when Field's first Time-Life book was published, added that it was a "b.i.t.c.hy, gossipy and devious" world. Olney's plagiarism suit in 1984 may have exposed the corruption of recipe stealing, but nine years later, when Christopher Hitchens reported Martha Stewart's lifting of a Julia Child recipe for chaudfroid sauce, he almost pa.s.sed it off with the quip: "To be a culinary plagiarist is to be no more than an omnivore." Hitchens called the "foodie world ... a bitter and compet.i.tive one, roiled by great, pa.s.sionate gusts which it is given to few to understand." When Evan Jones's new biography of James Beard stirred up a veritable cat fight among the New York Beardians who were "fighting over [his] remains," Newsday Newsday described it as a "bonfire of the foodies." described it as a "bonfire of the foodies."

One potential scandal that never reached the press, perhaps because it is so pervasive in the food world (as it is in the academic world), is the use of work done by one's a.s.sistants. James Beard is probably a prime example, for he leaned heavily on the work of a.s.sistants. Few have written about the hardworking second tier of writers and editors who actually wrote the books for the stars, pinch-hit prepping and washing their dishes, chauffeuring them and carrying their suitcases. They did all this out of love or learning or both. For her later books, Julia Child used a.s.sistants for writing, food design, and demonstrations. But unlike some, she acknowledged her a.s.sistants by name in each book and paid their expenses and salaries. The public at large, however, never fully knew the indispensable role that Rosemary Manell played in designing the dishes for every photograph, helping to develop recipes, and proofreading.

Julia was no longer hurt by the criticism of others, specifically the Hesses and Madeleine Kamman. And she seemed almost oblivious to the private embittered attacks by Richard Olney, who was stung by Julia's recommendation years before that he was not qualified to edit the Time-Life series (she was echoing Beard's judgment). His letters to Simca and Julia were friendly, however. After the death of Simca, who had many photographs of him on her wall, Olney a.s.serted that the two authors of the Mastering Mastering books were just after money and fame, did not like to eat or to cook, and could not do the latter. books were just after money and fame, did not like to eat or to cook, and could not do the latter.

Julia was fortunate that she was in her eighties and a national treasure when the full impact of others' money and vainglorious ambitions were at their peak. She occasionally got enmeshed in the tensions among the national food organizations and in what has been called the food world's "log-rolling" and "mutual back-scratching" (the flip side of its feuding)-because her first instinct was not to suspect the motives of people ("She sometimes is not the best judge of character," several of her friends insist). The conflicts within the AIWF and her own staff and entourage reveal something of Julia's management style and means of dealing or failing to deal with conflict. The "head girl" never wanted to play the "headmistress," preferring to avoid controversy and bitterness. According to her family and closest friends, "she had learned to deal with Paul's occasionally disagreeable nature" by creating a pleasant atmosphere "as a form of control to keep the negative away." If pushed to do so, she might write a letter, but she always backed away from confrontation. If she scheduled two friends into one of her vacation homes, she asked them to resolve the conflict. One day Stephanie Hersh was left on the porch with her suitcase when another a.s.sistant accompanied Julia on tour. It was sometimes difficult for Julia to set limits. She could not ask a slothful boarder to leave or fire anyone. "She has trouble confronting relationship problems. Paul always took care of this," notes one friend. "She wants to be loved," adds a family member. Another a.s.sociate believes she played people off against one another to promote her own autonomy.

Others, particularly her men friends, saw her management style as a wise executive skill. By virtue of the confidences each group gave her, she could watch the infighting of employees and a.s.sistants, food groups and academic inst.i.tutions, while maintaining power and interest as she evaluated her own opinion and position on the issues. Dun Gifford compared her executive style with others he had worked with, especially the Kennedys. She tested her position by listening to the warring sides, maintained chaos control by being the only person who knew the entire story, and kept the social interaction intellectually stimulating for herself. Gifford also compares her to Ronald Reagan in her willful resilience that does "not forget to smile."

Another woman executive cynically a.n.a.lyzes this interpretation of the Child administrative style as one of a "Teflon leader ... who stays above the fray." It is "her and Bob's [Mondavi] inst.i.tute, but they get none of the blame for its fiscal irresponsibility": It is cunning: she listens to every side, but does not take sides. Here she is in the cattiest, back-bitingest industry and she has risen above it; n.o.body is mad at her. Her personal generosity is second only to the Pope's, yet she is a guarded, complex woman under the guise of a simple one. She has all this warmth, yet I do not know her after years of working with her.... I have a hard time talking to her. She knows just what she wants and come h.e.l.l or high water, she is going to get it. She has played all her cards right, yet the simplicity and b.u.mbling make her no threat to anyone.

She was an executive who had direct control or influence over millions of dollars. In December 1989 The Nation's Business The Nation's Business featured her in the "Lessons of Leadership" series. She told Anne Willan if they had gone into business they would have made millions. She sought out professional expertise in her personal and professional life and played good cop to her a.s.sistant Stephanie Hersh's bad cop. Because she had the a.s.sistance of Stephanie, plus an accountant, lawyer, editor, and publisher's public relations staff, she could keep to a demanding personal schedule and serve on the board of directors of several of her favorite causes-like any successful CEO. The woman who once told Smith College's personnel bureau that she was looking for a position "being someone's general and all-purpose a.s.sistant" became her own general, directing a group of a.s.sistants. featured her in the "Lessons of Leadership" series. She told Anne Willan if they had gone into business they would have made millions. She sought out professional expertise in her personal and professional life and played good cop to her a.s.sistant Stephanie Hersh's bad cop. Because she had the a.s.sistance of Stephanie, plus an accountant, lawyer, editor, and publisher's public relations staff, she could keep to a demanding personal schedule and serve on the board of directors of several of her favorite causes-like any successful CEO. The woman who once told Smith College's personnel bureau that she was looking for a position "being someone's general and all-purpose a.s.sistant" became her own general, directing a group of a.s.sistants.

COOKING WITH JULIA.

Geoffrey Drummond, who made New York Master Chefs New York Master Chefs in the mid-1980s and was working in France, approached Julia through Jacques Pepin and Rebecca Alssid (head of the Boston University culinary program, where Julia occasionally demonstrated). Drummond was a producer, director, or executive producer for in the mid-1980s and was working in France, approached Julia through Jacques Pepin and Rebecca Alssid (head of the Boston University culinary program, where Julia occasionally demonstrated). Drummond was a producer, director, or executive producer for A Prairie Home Companion A Prairie Home Companion and and Going Home Going Home. Now he wanted to do a series on master chefs for Maryland PBS to be hosted by Julia, who had not made any new series with Morash and WGBH since 1984 and whose work at Good Morning America Good Morning America was now only occasional. His original intention was to film the chefs in action, as he had for his was now only occasional. His original intention was to film the chefs in action, as he had for his New York Master Chef New York Master Chef series, but this time he would send her the tapes and she could provide the opening commentary in her own kitchen. "There was no way she was going to let me go off and work with the chefs and not be there. She wanted to be involved.... Ultimately she became my collaborator and partner." Drummond, a young and personable producer, serious but sensitive to others' needs, was a collaborative director (though compulsive about his work) and perhaps suited to her experience, as Russ Morash was to Julia's inexperience. This time, it was Julia who was pushing to be part of the action, a real partner in the venture, working with her laptop from 6:30 in the morning until 11:30 at night. series, but this time he would send her the tapes and she could provide the opening commentary in her own kitchen. "There was no way she was going to let me go off and work with the chefs and not be there. She wanted to be involved.... Ultimately she became my collaborator and partner." Drummond, a young and personable producer, serious but sensitive to others' needs, was a collaborative director (though compulsive about his work) and perhaps suited to her experience, as Russ Morash was to Julia's inexperience. This time, it was Julia who was pushing to be part of the action, a real partner in the venture, working with her laptop from 6:30 in the morning until 11:30 at night.

Drummond packed his cameras and crew, Julia her suitcase, and on March 12, 1993, they began flying from city to city, taping sixteen prominent chefs for a new series ent.i.tled Cooking with Master Chefs Cooking with Master Chefs. She had talked to Drummond, co-owner of A La Carte Communications, and Maryland Public Television for two years about hosting a sixteen-part series featuring American master chefs. Though this was a new stage in her career, it was an old idea for her. From the very beginning, after every series she talked to the press about having guest chefs on her program. From her list of sixty names and a list from Drummond, they consulted and chose sixteen chefs who were available and represented variety (location, race, gender, food type, age). Now she proudly announced she was going to play the role of Mrs. Alistair Cooke or Alistair Cookie, an allusion to the august host of PBS's Masterpiece Theatre Masterpiece Theatre.

When they finally had the money for sixteen shows and a book contract from Knopf, they traveled to New York (Andre Soltner), Washington, DC (Jean-Louis Palladin), New Orleans (Emeril Laga.s.se), Houston (Robert Del Grande), San Francisco (Jeremiah Tower), Los Angeles (Michel Richard), and Hawaii (Amy Ferguson-Ota) to film these chefs and others in their own kitchens. She also visited Jacques Pepin, a Connecticut neighbor of Drummond. It was not difficult to stand in the role of the viewer, for Julia took great delight in learning from each chef. She loved their "nifty knife work" and was fascinated to learn from Alice Waters, who turned a fork, tines down, and rubbed a naked garlic clove over the tines for a quick puree. After filming with Lidia Bastianich of New York's Felidia, Julia declared she "finally understands" risotto. She was especially proud that ten of the sixteen chefs were American, and of that ten, half were women. They returned to Cambridge and filmed Julia's introductions to each segment at her kitchen table, the produce from the recipes of each chef displayed in front of her.

There were two major difficulties with the first series: traveling to each location, where a local film crew joined the core film crew plus the simultaneous filming and book writing for joint release. She had to record exactly what each chef did, relate it to their list of ingredients, and have the recipe tested again. During the second half of the production, Julia's computer crashed and she realized that she needed help with the writing. She called Nancy Barr, who sat with her laptop during each filming, taking down what each chef said and later helping with their biographical profiles, the reediting, and proofing. Most chefs presented a full menu. For example, Charles Palmer of New York's Aureole prepared venison steaks, large herb potato chips, timbales of b.u.t.ternut squash, and chocolate tarragon mousse cupcakes. Susan Feniger and Mary Sue Milliken, owners and chefs of the Border Grill in Santa Monica, on the other hand, prepared dal (a spicy lentil dish), curry popcorn, a curry of spinach and eggplant, pickled tomatoes, and ginger-lemon tea.

Although each chef cooked his or her recipes in their home kitchens, they were professional chefs working in restaurants-a shift from Julia's emphasis on home cooking, though a teaching program nevertheless. "It's not a show for fluffies," she explained at each stop, but for serious cooks. Another shift that disappointed some of her fans was the minor presence of Julia on the program. These two factors and the shortness of the series may account for the weak sales of the book. The video series, however, was nominated for an Emmy, the only food show to be nominated for a national prime-time category, Drummond says proudly.

Julia promoted the book with vigor, especially in the city where each chef lived. According to Janice Goldklang, her Knopf publicist: "She was very insistent that it not be just her show, that it was a collaborative effort." Frequently the chef cooked a high-priced dinner to benefit the local PBS channel. In San Francisco, for example, Jeremiah Tower and Alice Waters cooked for KQED. When Knopf scheduled in rest stops after a flight, she asked for more book signings. She tried to arrive early because people were always lined up, a line that often took two hours to thin out. "I may not be a spring chicken anymore, but I'm a tough old bird." Despite her promotional efforts, the book was not nominated for a book prize.

Reviews were complimentary but brief. She appeared on Good Morning America Good Morning America and had the usual profiles in and had the usual profiles in People, Modern Maturity People, Modern Maturity, and other magazines. Her early cohorts in the television world thought the book was "thin" on teaching. Charlotte Snyder Turgeon says it was "just showing off what great chefs can do, not extolling home cooking." Ruth Lockwood called her to suggest she stand up straight on-camera. ("I can't," Julia replied. "When I try to do it, it hurts.") Narcisse Chamberlain says the series was excellent, particularly the episode with Alice Waters "because the two of them work together and get along beautifully." The Waters' tape was an exception in having Julia so directly involved, because Drummond, believing the shy Waters would need support, suggested they appear together. Julia sat beside her so the Chez Panisse owner could talk directly to her. The program with Nancy Silverton, who was "the most nervous about the taping and just froze in front of the camera" (according to Drummond, who had her do it over and over again), sold ten times as many tapes as any of the others. She made the famous bread-showing how to begin a fermented bread starter using crushed grapes-that she sold at her La Brea Bakery in Los Angeles.

Accompanied by the Pratts, Julia took a week in Venice in October to teach a course at the Cipriani. According to Natale Rusconi, the managing director of the hotel and the founder of the cooking cla.s.ses there, Julia brought in the largest cla.s.ses they offered. By her request, she actively demonstrated after that first year. She wanted to be an active partic.i.p.ant, not merely an icon who served as a magnet for money or sales.

"We did the second series because people wanted more of Julia," says Drummond. There would be no grueling road trips and people would see more of Julia on each program. Drummond would film In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs in Julia's Cambridge house. Because sales of the first volume were disappointing, they doubled the number of chefs to publish a more substantial book and ensure a regular slot on PBS. Taking a clue from the popularity of the Alice Waters program, in which the two women talked through the cooking steps, they moved Julia from being an "Alistair Cookie" to being an active observer. In the new book she would add a variety of tips and explanations in sidebars to accompany the chefs' recipes. in Julia's Cambridge house. Because sales of the first volume were disappointing, they doubled the number of chefs to publish a more substantial book and ensure a regular slot on PBS. Taking a clue from the popularity of the Alice Waters program, in which the two women talked through the cooking steps, they moved Julia from being an "Alistair Cookie" to being an active observer. In the new book she would add a variety of tips and explanations in sidebars to accompany the chefs' recipes.

Geoffrey removed her kitchen table and built a stage island with a stove in its place, mounting overhead lights in the ceiling. They had to pull a big truck into the street, according to neighbors, to house the generator for the power needed. The control room was in the dining room, the preparation kitchen in the bas.e.m.e.nt. They hired a prep cook, flew in the chefs, who stayed at the Charles Hotel, while Nancy Barr continued as a.s.sistant writer and Kathleen Ankino served as recipe tester. It was a complete disruption of the house, but easier on Julia, who did not have to travel and could retire for a short nap when she had eight minutes.

At the private center of that crowded public world were two important men. Her nephew David McWilliams lived in her upstairs apartment while he completed his business degree at Boston University (commuting back to his wife and children in Vermont on weekends). Julia relished his company every evening she was home until his graduation in May 1995. The second was John McJennett, who with his wife (now deceased) had socialized with the Childs decades ago in Washington, DC. McJennett had survived Iwo Jima and carried himself with the bearing of a general, standing straight, taller even than Julia. "It's nice to have a chap around," she liked to say. They made a handsome pair, though after a trip to the Aspen Food and Wine Cla.s.sic in June 1994 his health began to fail.

HARVARD'S "VERITAS"

It had been thirty-two years since Julia and Paul settled into their Cambridge home to become citizens of greater Boston-Beantown as the natives fondly referred to it. They lived in the bright shadow of Fair Harvard for these decades, socialized with its faculty, watched in dismay and disbelief when "crimson blood defiled the Harvard Yard" (as Paul described it) during the Vietnam War, entertained students in their kitchen, and talked to numerous campus groups in this inst.i.tution whose motto was "Truth" or "Veritas." Though many faculty did not watch much television, Galbraith claims, they were well aware of their friend's impact on the wider world and ready to acknowledge that truth.

On June 10, 1993, Harvard honored her with an honorary doctorate in a ceremony that was the ultimate moment validating Julia's life as scholar-cook and teacher, as pioneer of educational television, an intellectual who spoke for no company. There was no controversy concerning her degree that sunny day. The only controversy that day involved the degree conferred on Colin Powell, who had recently spoke out against President Clinton's "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy on gays in the military. Pink balloons supporting gay rights in the military dotted the blue sky when thousands filled Harvard Square and Harvard Yard. Someone handed Phila Cousins, the only family member accompanying Julia, a pink balloon; she carried it with conviction.

When the two-hour ceremony marking Harvard's 342nd commencement began, Julia sat in a blouse and skirt next to General Powell in the front row. Her flowered long-sleeved blouse with underblouse and belt looked too informal among all the black robes. She looked out over the sea of faces, pink balloons, and signs that read: "Lift the Ban" (against h.o.m.os.e.xuals in the military). The audience even cheered the invocation that made an oblique reference to barriers to "ways of discerning and expressing love." When Powell's degree was presented at the end of the program, many students stood with their backs to Powell.

Twice during President Neil Rudenstine's description of Julia, an eloquent speech mixed with allusions to food, he was stopped by applause. He ended with "Bon appet.i.t" "Bon appet.i.t" to thunderous applause. She was a wildly popular choice for the students and alumni. Julia stood by her chair and smiled broadly when they handed her the citation, honoring her stellar career as an educator. It read: "A Harvard friend and neighbor who has filled the air with common sense and uncommon scents. Long may her souffles rise. to thunderous applause. She was a wildly popular choice for the students and alumni. Julia stood by her chair and smiled broadly when they handed her the citation, honoring her stellar career as an educator. It read: "A Harvard friend and neighbor who has filled the air with common sense and uncommon scents. Long may her souffles rise. Bon appet.i.t." Bon appet.i.t."

Chapter 27.

DO N NOT G GO G GENTLE.

(1994 1997) "It's a shame to be caught up in something that doesn't absolutely make you tremble with joy!"

JULIA CHILD, 1991.

IN JULIA'S KITCHEN, they had just finished filming George Germon and Johanne Killeen, husband and wife chef/owners of Al Forno in Providence, Rhode Island, for In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs. The crew had packed up, loaded the van, and left, for the production was taking a month's hiatus to accommodate Julia's schedule. "Mr. and Mrs. Al Forno" (as they were called), producer Geoffrey Drummond, and Julia went for a late dinner, joined by Julia's friend John McJennett and her nephew David McWilliams, who was just ten days away from completing his business degree. They went to Jasper's at the Boston waterfront, for Julia loved his pan-roasted lobster.

GOODBYE.

Stephanie Hersh received the call from the Fairlawn Nursing Home soon after 9:40 that night, Thursday, May 12, 1994. She called Bill Truslow to find out how she should tell Julia. (Earlier in the week, Truslow had come by the house and Julia told him Paul was fading.) He said to wait until she had finished her meal. When the telephone rang at the restaurant, Geoffrey was called to the phone by the maitre d', knowing what it meant.

When he returned to the table, Geoffrey put his arm behind Julia's shoulder, and told her as gently as he could. "She immediately stood up; it was a visceral response. Her whole expression changed," says Geoffrey. "David looked over and realized what had happened. The timing was fortuitous because there was family there." She headed out within minutes, but encouraged Geoff to continue production because all the crew were there. David McWilliams drove her to Fairlawn to see Paul's body before the Neptune society took him for cremation. David had been a companion at meals and quiet times for several years now, and she leaned on him during her grief. According to David, who says, "I discovered not a famous aunt but a friend while living there," Julia was "pretty self-supporting" when Paul died. The cause of death was listed as "coronary artery disease." "Even though it was totally expected, there is still that shock of realization," Drummond said, privately relieved that Paul's death had not occurred in the middle of the taping, when Julia "would have felt she had to finish," despite her pain.

As for death itself: I fear and loathe it-as I always have [Paul wrote to Charlie on November 7, 1972]. It sits there, waiting, on my back, like the Devil in that Norse saying: "Nr man har djevelen p ryggen m man baere ham frem! [Once the Devil gets fastened on one's back, one will have to bear him there henceforth!]. I do not not wish "to be returned to the common microbial and atomic pool" as you say so loftily, and I do wish "to be returned to the common microbial and atomic pool" as you say so loftily, and I do not not feel like either a microbe or an atom. I am feel like either a microbe or an atom. I am P. Child P. Child, painter, photographer, lover boy, poet, judo-man, wine-guzzler, and Old Sour Ball, and it's taken me 70 mortal years to sculpt this masterpiece, and I do not relish the inevitable Chute de la Maison Shield Chute de la Maison Shield.

The wisteria he had planted around the front yard and could never get to bloom sprouted blossoms for the first time three days after Paul's death. Julia began quietly weeping and could not stop. She suggested the office staff might want to leave early. Paul's ashes awaited the family gathering that was to take place in Maine in August. The daily routine changed little for Julia, except for the succession of trips to Fairlawn, but her sense of loneliness grew deeper. After long tearful telephone calls to her immediate family, she did what she always did in grief, find those who could relate to her emotionally and fill her days with activity. She moved on.

Soon after Lesley Truslow Davison, daughter of Peter and Jane, moved into Julia's upstairs apartment, Julia and Kitty Galbraith drove to Northampton for a brief trip to the past. It was the sixtieth reunion of the Cla.s.s of 1934, and they dined with President Mary Maples Dunn and heard that a third of the women board members of Fortune 500 businesses were graduates of women's colleges. But for Julia, the sight of all the gray-headed grandmothers was depressing; then and there she decided she would not go back for another reunion. She went to New York City for an investment in the future.

The new television network devoted to food and cooking (TVFN) had premiered the year before (November 1993). Reese Schoenfeld and Joseph Langdon had come to Cambridge with Sue Huffman, whom Julia knew through the International a.s.sociation of Culinary Professionals, to seek her approval and involvement. Julia paved the way for her WGBH tapes, as well as those of James Beard and Dione Lucas, to be licensed for showing on the television network. In April 1994 she sat for a series of brief interviews with news anchors David Rosengarten and Donna Hanover, who asked her questions on such topics as French food, restaurant smoking, and "food n.a.z.is." By June of that year, in Aspen, Julia was taping segments with herself as interviewer called "Dishing with Julia." "She is a good interviewer because of her natural curiosity," says Huffman. By the following year she was appearing only briefly, answering "Julia's E-mail" on In Food Today In Food Today. She, along with alternate columnists Marcella Hazan and Jacques Pepin, also began writing columns for Food & Wine Food & Wine magazine, founded in October 1992. Her first article was on lobster tails, the second on chicken b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Both the Food Channel and magazine, founded in October 1992. Her first article was on lobster tails, the second on chicken b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Both the Food Channel and Food & Wine Food & Wine, the best magazine for new recipes, would become her new commitments.

The return of the Master Chef Master Chef film crew chased quiet and loneliness from the house. All around her the air was charged with frenzy as the twelve young staff members worked that summer to complete the filming delayed by Paul's death. She walked a little unsteadily over the black quilts that covered the electrical cables running from the brightly illuminated kitchen, through the pantries, and into the control room (formerly her dining room). Giant Mylar tubes snaked along the edge of each room, carrying air conditioning. Her nonchalance was grounded in experience and in her love of intense group work. film crew chased quiet and loneliness from the house. All around her the air was charged with frenzy as the twelve young staff members worked that summer to complete the filming delayed by Paul's death. She walked a little unsteadily over the black quilts that covered the electrical cables running from the brightly illuminated kitchen, through the pantries, and into the control room (formerly her dining room). Giant Mylar tubes snaked along the edge of each room, carrying air conditioning. Her nonchalance was grounded in experience and in her love of intense group work.

"Her kitchen has some sort of magic," noted Geoffrey Drummond, who was delighted to be filming all twenty-six chefs in this room so rich with memories and the patina of age. The chefs felt that magic too. They were more relaxed than the sixteen who had worked in their own kitchens for the first series. Three sous-chefs helped Charlie Trotter of Chicago sear scallops with wild mushrooms, Jean-Georges Vongerichten prepared crab spring rolls, and Jasper White his famous pan-roasted lobster and corn fritters. Alfred Portale of the Gotham Bar and Grill in New York City prepared foie gras ravioli and duck breast with Chinese peas, and Gordon Hamersley made his garlic roast chicken.

On her eighty-second birthday, she and Geoffrey finished filming the last program of In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs. Joachim Splichal of the Patina restaurant and the Pinot bistro in Los Angeles made potato-chanterelle lasagna and lamb shanks. Splichal was West German-born, Swiss-trained, and considered by many to be the finest chef in Los Angeles. Julia's sister Dort flew in that day and attended the wrap party for the series, hosted by Hamersley at his bistro in Boston. The next day, Julia and Dort drove to Woodstock to see their brother John, but the pain in Julia's knee soon took her back to Boston to see her doctor, who prescribed pain pills. She would put off any further surgery.

ASHES TO THE SEA.

The family gathered that August amid the craggy grandeur of Mount Desert Island, where the salty air was heavy with their collective memories of decades of tree clearing, cabin building, lobster traps, and family feasts. This was their third memorial service. Rachel, Erica, and Jon came with their children and grandchildren, remembering their parents, Charlie and Freddie, whose ashes had been sprinkled on the paths and into the sea. Paul's nephew Paul Sheeline and his wife, Sandra, were there, as were two other children of Meeda Child. Julia's sister Dort and her son Sam, his wife, Susan, and son Max came, as did the extended "family": the Kublers, the Bissells, and the Truslows.

One must must do something ceremonial at the pa.s.sing-out-of-life of a person who has lived a long time [Paul wrote to Charlie on March 21, 1954]. It needs punctuation marks of a special sort to set it off from the endless script of life. The friends need it, want it. It's like [John] Donne's "piece of the maine" breaking off: We are all involved. We will all go through the same door-the bell tolls.... Death and life may be meaningless: they often seem so ... but we can imbue a death with meaning, for us, by do something ceremonial at the pa.s.sing-out-of-life of a person who has lived a long time [Paul wrote to Charlie on March 21, 1954]. It needs punctuation marks of a special sort to set it off from the endless script of life. The friends need it, want it. It's like [John] Donne's "piece of the maine" breaking off: We are all involved. We will all go through the same door-the bell tolls.... Death and life may be meaningless: they often seem so ... but we can imbue a death with meaning, for us, by declaring declaring it to be meaningful.... let this funeral equal the importance of the loss of a valued [person]. it to be meaningful.... let this funeral equal the importance of the loss of a valued [person].

On Sat.u.r.day, August 27, forty-two people who loved Paul the most gathered in a circle and spoke of his life. Jon Child stood on the hearth and began by talking about how his Uncle Paul loved process, emphasizing the concrete and tangible by tying a knot the way Paul taught him and placing the rope on the floor; Rachel remembered her first visit to Paris and the confidence Paul instilled in her; Erica read from his letters and a poem. Julia, who had worried that the ceremony would go on too long, said only a few words, emphasizing that this gathering was also for Charlie and Freddie.

After all the guests had left, the family walked to the rocky cliffs to scatter Paul's ashes to the sea. Jon had transferred the ashes into a colorful clay pot. Here, on the land where forty-six years ago Julia first met his family and she and Paul decided to marry, they took turns sprinkling a few ashes-the younger people from the rocks below where the tide was coming in, the older from the gra.s.sy cliff above. Betty Kubler took several photographs, thinking how much better Paul's photographs would have been.

"So long, old boy," Julia said as the wind caught the ashes and blew them toward the sea. Her nephew Sam heard her say "Goodbye, Sweetie."

A thousand letters and calls poured in, including one from "the gentleman who always brings you three roses at your book signings at the [Harvard] Coop," who reminded her that the Dear Lord "must have a greater job for Paul in Heaven." But, like Paul, Julia did not believe in the afterlife. "There are no mooring hawsers in the sea of time," Paul had concluded in his poem "Everything Is Go." Julia's dislike of her father's "cold, unforgiving religion" was reinforced by Paul's strong hatred of organized religion, instilled in him by his harsh treatment at St. Joseph's Academy near Wellesley. His mother had come from Methodist stock but was a Theosophist who sent them to Quaker meetings to learn about the Bible. To the president of the Unitarian Universalist a.s.sociation ("That's a fun religion, isn't it? Not like those 'evil' Presbyterians!") two years before, Julia had said: "If I wanted a religion, I'd be either a Jew or a Catholic.... But I think if you have a good personal philosophy, you don't need them." Yet, on the "Proust Questionnaire" in Vanity Fair's Vanity Fair's March 1996 issue, she gave as her life motto "Love the lord your G.o.d with all your heart, and soul, and mind-and thy neighbor as thyself." March 1996 issue, she gave as her life motto "Love the lord your G.o.d with all your heart, and soul, and mind-and thy neighbor as thyself."

When it is her turn to die, she says, "I do not care at all what happens [to my body]."

THE FOOD CIRCUIT.

At the end of September 1994, Julia flew to Europe with Pat and Herb Pratt, as they had for so many years. This time, with no worry about being suddenly called back to be with Paul, they flew first-cla.s.s. And as usual, they visited Anne Willan and Mark Cherniavsky near Joigny. After a full week of rest in Fiesole, in the Tuscan hills above Florence, they drove to Venice for Julia's cla.s.ses at the Cipriani Hotel. Wherever she went she felt a profound sense of loss; though she had missed her husband's companionship for years, no longer being able to call Fairlawn dramatized her irrevocable loss. But giving in to that melancholy was beyond Julia. She would go on with the responsibilities of her career.

The fall of 1994 was filled with appearances on Good Morning America Good Morning America, articles for Food & Wine Food & Wine magazine, demonstrations (often with Jacques Pepin) at Boston University, cooking cla.s.ses at the Mondavi vineyards, and numerous appearances for the AIWF at board meetings, chapter meetings, the annual wine auction, and the annual Conference on Gastronomy. In May 1995 Julia accompanied Joan Lunden and Charles Gibson on magazine, demonstrations (often with Jacques Pepin) at Boston University, cooking cla.s.ses at the Mondavi vineyards, and numerous appearances for the AIWF at board meetings, chapter meetings, the annual wine auction, and the annual Conference on Gastronomy. In May 1995 Julia accompanied Joan Lunden and Charles Gibson on Good Morning America's Good Morning America's "Pa.s.sport to Europe: Burgundy" filming in France. The annual pattern always included the Greenbrier Food Writers' Conference in March, the IACP conference in March or April, the Aspen Food and Wine Cla.s.sic in June, the Cipriani Hotel in October, and the AIWF conference in October or November. "Pa.s.sport to Europe: Burgundy" filming in France. The annual pattern always included the Greenbrier Food Writers' Conference in March, the IACP conference in March or April, the Aspen Food and Wine Cla.s.sic in June, the Cipriani Hotel in October, and the AIWF conference in October or November.

La Varenne's Greenbrier cooking cla.s.ses, demonstrations, and writers' conferences were a regular extension of Julia's long involvement in the work of Anne Willan and Mark Cherniavsky. Willan remembers complaining about how sticky her shoes became when she and Julia were cooking together in the Greenbrier kitchen. Take them off, Julia said, and then proceeded to clean the bottom of Anne's shoes.

In 1994 at the Greenbrier, Julia awakened in the night, tripped over a chair, and landed on her face, cutting her mouth so severely that she had to have st.i.tches in her lip and cancel her plans to attend the annual AIWF conference in Monterey. As the doctor was st.i.tching her up, he asked, "Other than this, how has your stay at the Greenbrier been?" The food was "terrible," she said animatedly, forgetting her pain. Just days later, Walter Scheib, the head chef at the Greenbrier, was appointed by Hillary Clinton to head the cooking staff of the White House.

Although unable to be as fully involved with the AIWF as she was in 1990 and 1991, Julia annually attended five chapter events chosen by the executive director, Roberta Klugman. (Julia maintained her primary involvement in the Boston chapter, often hosting c.o.c.ktail parties at her house.) She continued to attend national board meetings, an annual conference, and a glittering wine auction as well as special events honoring the eightieth birthdays of Robert Mondavi in 1994 and Chuck Williams of Williams-Sonoma in 1995. In a gesture of great generosity, Mondavi liquidated the debt (of nearly $200,000) of the AIWF in 1994. Of the Mondavi money, $40,000 was a.s.signed to provide AIWF support for the Mondavi Center in Napa, then in the planning stages. A year later, with an additional grant of $250,000, he revitalized the Journal of Gastronomy Journal of Gastronomy, which was to be linked to promotion for the Mondavi Center. The journal was transformed into a large and beautifully ill.u.s.trated book, ret.i.tled Wine, Food & the Arts Wine, Food & the Arts (edited by Betty Fussell), and published in 1996 and 1997. In exchange for the grant, the AIWF reaffirmed its commitment to move its headquarters to the Mondavi Center in Napa when the conference center and wine museum were constructed. The $40,000 from his 1994 grant was used to print additional copies of the journal. (edited by Betty Fussell), and published in 1996 and 1997. In exchange for the grant, the AIWF reaffirmed its commitment to move its headquarters to the Mondavi Center in Napa when the conference center and wine museum were constructed. The $40,000 from his 1994 grant was used to print additional copies of the journal.

The AIWF continued its original focus on education. "It has come back toward my idea of the Inst.i.tute with the school lunch program and nutrition for children," says Alice Waters. Those who were not happy with the change wanted the wining and dining atmosphere back, feared the "domination by nutritionists and diet.i.tians," and pointed to what they called the politically correct Monterey Conference on "Children's Education: Feeding Our Future." Others criticized the growing bureaucracy and lack of vision. Yet the working relations with the Dairy Council, School Lunch Programs, and the Olive Oil Council, begun under Wolf and Cann Hamilton, were restored. The power base of the AIWF shifted from New York City to San Francisco with the appointment of Roberta Klugman as executive director in 1992 and the election of Maggie Mah as chair of the board (the second woman chair) in 1995. Sandra McCauley succeeded Mah in 1997.

Julia coordinated her board meetings, conferences, and charity work with the promotion of the television series and book In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs in the spring of 1995. Whether she was demonstrating at her last Long Wharf Theater benefit for Betty Kubler, attending a Planned Parenthood benefit, doing a PBS, Boston University, Smithsonian, Radcliffe, or Smith College benefit, receiving the Blue Ribbon from the Cordon Bleu in Paris, or doing a fund-raiser for the Boston Public Library or the Boston Art Inst.i.tute, her publisher provided discounted books for sale. "She works hard when she has a book come out," says Goldklang. Her one truly commercial appearance was a windfall: on QVC, the television shopping network, she sold 10,000 copies in just moments, and was as delighted with the new technology for selling books as she was with the numbers. The following year she won the daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Service Host at the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ceremony in New York City. Her producers, Drummond's A La Carte Communications and Maryland Public Television, received an Outstanding Service Show award as well. in the spring of 1995. Whether she was demonstrating at her last Long Wharf Theater benefit for Betty Kubler, attending a Planned Parenthood benefit, doing a PBS, Boston University, Smithsonian, Radcliffe, or Smith College benefit, receiving the Blue Ribbon from the Cordon Bleu in Paris, or doing a fund-raiser for the Boston Public Library or the Boston Art Inst.i.tute, her publisher provided discounted books for sale. "She works hard when she has a book come out," says Goldklang. Her one truly commercial appearance was a windfall: on QVC, the television shopping network, she sold 10,000 copies in just moments, and was as delighted with the new technology for selling books as she was with the numbers. The following year she won the daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Service Host at the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences ceremony in New York City. Her producers, Drummond's A La Carte Communications and Maryland Public Television, received an Outstanding Service Show award as well.

When Julia arrived in Seattle to promote In Julia's Kitchen with Master In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs Chefs, her hotel room had a large fruit basket with cheese, but she was hungry hungry. Ordering a juicy hamburger from a nearby hamburger joint, she began signing books. This was one of those three-day multiple events, including a meeting with Microsoft and an AIWF founders dinner. At Sur La Table, a Seattle cookware store where she had signed 600 copies of The Way to Cook The Way to Cook in 1989, people began lining up at 6:30 in 1989, people began lining up at 6:30 A.M A.M. to be one of the 250 persons promised a meeting and signing with Julia. The first woman in line had flown in for the occasion from West Palm Beach, Florida, but there were a thousand more who wanted her signature. The Pacific Northwest AIWF held a Taste & Health workshop, Julia spoke to a full house at the Washington Athletic Club, and Sur La Table held a $1,000-a-plate dinner for sixteen. The weekend netted $25,000 for the AIWF. One news reporter compared her arrival in Seattle to a papal visit.

MARTHA STEWART.

AND THE ELECTRONIC FUTURE.

"Every age gets the house-hold G.o.ddess it deserves," wrote Margaret Talbot in a New Republic New Republic cover story on Martha Stewart: "The Tyrant of Taste." Half the first page was devoted to Julia Child, our first "house-hold G.o.ddess": "sophisticated ... as permissive as Dr. Spock ... anti-sn.o.b ... [with] an air of Cambridge eccentricity-faintly bohemian and a little tatty." The contrast was easy. Julia was "something of a sensualist, a celebrant of appet.i.te as much as a pedant of cooking;" Martha was the "corporate overachiever turned domestic superachiever ... in earth-toned Armani ... [who] generates some $200 million in profits a year." cover story on Martha Stewart: "The Tyrant of Taste." Half the first page was devoted to Julia Child, our first "house-hold G.o.ddess": "sophisticated ... as permissive as Dr. Spock ... anti-sn.o.b ... [with] an air of Cambridge eccentricity-faintly bohemian and a little tatty." The contrast was easy. Julia was "something of a sensualist, a celebrant of appet.i.te as much as a pedant of cooking;" Martha was the "corporate overachiever turned domestic superachiever ... in earth-toned Armani ... [who] generates some $200 million in profits a year."

Stewart, who started on Wall Street, then became a caterer, was rapidly building an empire that included cooking, home decoration, and gardening. She sold taste and beauty, or what was called "lifestyle," and published her own very successful magazine, Martha Stewart Living Martha Stewart Living (circulation 1.5 million). She was a resident of Westport, Connecticut, and her energy rivaled Julia's-indeed, she was called "a bullet in flight." (circulation 1.5 million). She was a resident of Westport, Connecticut, and her energy rivaled Julia's-indeed, she was called "a bullet in flight."

The difference, of course, was style. When Julia left Seattle for a two-week stay in Santa Barbara, she had signed 1,400 books; the press called it a "marathon" signing. She never left anyone at Sur La Table with an unsigned book. In contrast, that December in Buffalo, New York, Martha Stewart was at a fund-raising luncheon for the Lupus Foundation of America and had to leave before signing all the 1,000 books purchased by her fans. When she was criticized by some outraged fans and the Buffalo News Buffalo News, she wrote a letter that was published: "I promise I'll think long and hard before I accept another invitation to your chilly and downright unfriendly city again."

Julia did agree, after some vacillation, to appear on Martha Stewart's pre-Christmas special. Other guests included Miss Piggy and Hillary Clinton. Strange bedfellows. In one segment, with Julia at her side, Martha put the finishing touches on a gingerbread house that looked remarkably like Martha's home. As she created delicate and glittering spun sugar icicles, Julia offered comments and asked questions. When the complicated creation was finished and they both marveled at her creation, Julia exclaimed, "Aren't we terrific?!" More than a few in the audience collapsed in laughter.

Their energy and administrative talents were indeed similar, and perhaps Julia professionalized home cooking the way Martha professionalized housekeeping. Thus one Boston journalist asked Julia, "Did you create Martha Stewart?" Julia answered, "I'm not driven.... I'm enjoying what I do and I don't have any great ambitions. I feel I'm lucky to be in this profession that I adore and meeting all the people I like. I'm just very fortunate." But Talbot calls Stewart "the anti-Julia" (though she does not fully carry through the contrast). Julia, who came from money and New England stock, cared little for the show of wealth (though she enjoyed the comfort it provided). Stewart, with humble bloodlines, made her own money and sold cla.s.s-consciousness. Julia appealed to all cla.s.ses and could talk to Presidents and governors as well as a poor student she had invited to dinner or a Sudbury man who raised dozens of varieties of potatoes in his backyard and invited her to the annual neighborhood blind tasting of his harvest. James Beard had a different persona for each cla.s.s of people he a.s.sociated with, says biographer Robert Clark, but Julia was always herself. Any adventure that would bring her a new experience was irresistible.

Julia made her special appeal to the middle cla.s.s who shopped the supermarkets, even when food professionals criticized her compromises. She was the first to marry California and France, which in part explains her cross-cla.s.s appeal. She had aristocratic manners and connections, but talked to the middle cla.s.s, trying to change its att.i.tudes toward food and cooking. She would never criticize Stewart, though she would muse about whether "Martha would ever be happy."

More important than the contrast between the two women (who admire each other) is what this contrast says about the changes in America. Julia emphasizes the priority of taste and pleasure; for Martha Stewart pleasure takes on "the qualities of work"-not unlike the use of a s.e.x-advice manual, says Talbot, quoting from Christopher Lasch's The Culture of Narcissism The Culture of Narcissism. Martha's didacticism and implied "moral up-lift of a well-ordered home" makes her a throwback to the nineteenth-century home economics movement, with its "commitment to painstakingly elegant presentation, [its] concern with the look of food even more than its taste," and its zealous home ec curriculum. American puritanism lives, and "Americans have lost confidence in their own judgment." If Martha Stewart's appeal is "saturated with nostalgia," Julia is moving as fast as she can toward the twenty-first century. "Julia is so hip. Julia is tomorrow," exclaimed Russ Morash.

THE MASTER TEACHER.

Julia's view of herself as primarily an educator is doc.u.mented by her numerous commencement addresses at culinary inst.i.tutes (Johnson and Wales University and the Culinary Inst.i.tute of America) and in her support of the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe, Boston University, and Smith College (she attended the inauguration of the new president, Ruth Simmons, in the fall of 1995). Shortly before she received her honorary degree from Harvard, Julia became actively involved in demonstrations and fund-raising for Boston University's two-year graduate program as a Master of Liberal Arts degree with a Concentration in Gastronomy. At last her dream of a degree in gastronomy was realized, and much to her delight it was in her hometown of Boston. In 1996 she would see a full four-year academic degree with a focus in gastronomy inaugurated in the Napa Valley at the California branch of the Culinary Inst.i.tute of America (a two-year program in Hyde Park).

During her promotion for In Julia's Kitchen In Julia's Kitchen, the CD-ROM for Cooking with Master Chefs Cooking with Master Chefs was released by Microsoft. The compact disk was called was released by Microsoft. The compact disk was called Julia Child: Home Cooking with Master Chefs Julia Child: Home Cooking with Master Chefs, and retailed for $39.95. She had been the first on her block to be computer literate and was eager to take on the latest media tools. The compact disk for computer, which contained all sixteen segments of her first Master Chefs Master Chefs book as well as a tour of her kitchen, wine cellar and pantry, was underwritten by Microsoft. It had the same disadvantage as the video series of book as well as a tour of her kitchen, wine cellar and pantry, was underwritten by Microsoft. It had the same disadvantage as the video series of Dinner at Julia's Dinner at Julia's, more than a decade before, in that few kitchens have computers (they once did not have televisions). But the compact disk had a distinct advantage because it was interactive, meaning it could be stopped and the user could move around to any part, find all the recipes using carrots (for example), recalculate the proportions of a recipe, hot-link an ingredient to an ill.u.s.trated dictionary, or print off the ingredients for a shopping list. The cursor turned to an oven mitt when it hit a hot spot.

Microsoft for Windows was fairly new technology and sales grew slowly, but the disk was included in new computer sales packages. Meantime, Julia and her book were all over the Internet on dozens of home pages and on-line food chats, including the Cooking Club. A pioneer in the fight against bad food and cooking since the early 1960s, she continued the crusade on this medium of the twenty-first century. Her ideas and recipes were on thousands of computers, but so were those of lesser lights, with recipes using Velveeta, Jello-O, Tang, Cool Whip, and Shake 'n Bake chicken nuggets. Just as they had corrupted the printed pages of home magazines eighty years before, now Kellogg, Campbell Soup, Kraft (owned by Philip Morris), and other packaged food companies established their interactive sites on the World Wide Web. Instead of Ed Herlihy's mellifluous phrasing of "Kraft Jet-Puffed Miniature Marshmallow," now clicks, beeps, and whistles filled American homes.

COOKING IN CONCERT.

If her favorite public cooking partner of the 1960s was Jim Beard, in the 1990s it was Jacques Pepin. "It is easier not to rehea.r.s.e with Julia," says Pepin. "It is much better to just go with it. She is natural. There is no fakery or pretense." Growing out of her involvement at Boston University, where Julia and Jacques both taught, came a plan for Geoffrey to tape the cooking duo for a PBS special. The crew worked three days building a set and preparing the machinery and cameras. When Julia arrived on the day of taping, she placed her wooden cutout of a cat somewhere in the backdrop of pans, fruit, and flowers as she had done since the beginning of her career. She was too practical to call it a lucky charm, but she never forgot it. The first taping was called "Julia Child and Jacques Pepin: Cooking in Concert," filmed on March 28, 1994, and first aired in its two-hour edited version that August.

On their first televised concert, if not before, they established their shtick. "Jacques and Julia sizzle," wrote one journalist. They casually set up dramatic tensions for their Boston University and PBS audiences: he wanted to add more garlic, she wanted to add more liqueur or b.u.t.ter. When she turned her back, he slyly added extra lemon; when he turned his back she added vanilla. Together they prepared a four-course meal with the audience applauding Julia's one-liners and Jacques's virtuoso knife techniques ("You can certainly tell who is the professional chef and who is the home cook," she noted).

During preparations for the second filming, two years later on Boston's Patriots' Day (also the day of the Boston Marathon), Julia wanted plain gla.s.s bowls, not white ones, for her English pudding. A staff member navigated police blockades and closed stores to find her what she wanted. Instead of putting her boiled potatoes in a Cuisinart, she pressed them through the enormous German potato ricer she had bought in Bonn in the 1950s. While Jacques, who had published Simple & Healthy Cooking Simple & Healthy Cooking the year before, prepared the veal, his eyes widened as she added more and more b.u.t.ter to the potatoes. She seemed to delight in quoting Alice B. Toklas: "We don't want nutrition, we want taste." When there were friendly disagreements of style, he usually deferred to her or did it his way when her back was turned, much to the delight of the audience. When he suggested putting garlic in the fourth dish, a sauce for the salmon, she tapped her head in despair and exclaimed, "You're a real garlic freak, aren't you!" It was delightful theater. the year before, prepared the veal, his eyes widened as she added more and more b.u.t.ter to the potatoes. She seemed to delight in quoting Alice B. Toklas: "We don't want nutrition, we want taste." When there were friendly disagreements of style, he usually deferred to her or did it his way when her back was turned, much to the delight of the audience. When he suggested putting garlic in the fourth dish, a sauce for the salmon, she tapped her head in despair and exclaimed, "You're a real garlic freak, aren't you!" It was delightful theater.

This second show, "More Cooking in Concert," aired in August and December 1996. Their two "In Concert" shows are the most popular tapes played for PBS fund-raisers around the country.

They also packed the venue for every public appearance together, whether at the Smithsonian "Gala Celebration" in June 1995 or Sotheby's "Conversation" the next December. At the Smithsonian, which holds sixteen lectures a month, they drew the largest audience on record. At Sotheby's, two hundred applicants were turned away for a conversation that included Jacques's Connecticut neighbor Morley Safer of 60 Minutes 60 Minutes. Julia and Jacques were comfortably linked because they both represented education, not commerce, a respect for French culinary techniques, and a distrust of faddishness in cooking. Jacques, with his graduate studies in French literature from Columbia University, was a dean at the French Culinary Inst.i.tute in New York and the major luminary in the master's degree program at Boston University. Because teaching was their talent and French cuisine their pa.s.sion, they teamed up for education and for demonstrations. They were also both professionals in front of an audience and had a familiar repartee and rapport. When a member of one audience asked Julia what her cholesterol level was, she replied, "Medium." Jacques, after a moment's pause, added, "Medium rare."

Julia appeared to some of her a.s.sociates to have an ambivalent relationship with Jacques, flirting one moment and on another offended by a seeming male condescending remark. One a.s.sistant says, "Julia likes to be the event. Neither one likes to share the spotlight. They bicker sometimes before a concert, though they admire each other. But he is a Frenchman and grew up in a French kitchen. Men bang the knife three times on the table to get the noise going before they cut. Women don't do that. Hut one! Chop, chop, chop." To a viewer it is clear that when they work together, he takes charge of the preparation, in part because she is not as fast and accurate as she once was. During the taping of "More Cooking in Concert," she seemed to lean on the demonstration table during the entire performance (she had been on her feet for hours during t