In her eighty-fourth year, Julia played her final "Alistair Cookie" role in Baking with Julia Baking with Julia, a television series with master bakers ("Baking is anything that has flour in it," she explained); no one had yet done a baking series for television. Moreover, the most popular segment of their Cooking with Master Chefs Cooking with Master Chefs was with Nancy Silverton baking her La Brea bread, and two of the most successful programs on was with Nancy Silverton baking her La Brea bread, and two of the most successful programs on In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs were with Carol Field of San Francis...o...b..king Italian bread and Jim Dodge of Montpelier, Vermont, making chocolate fudge cake and apple pie. For this series, Julia agreed to write the introduction to a book based on the series, but this time she refused to write the book. were with Carol Field of San Francis...o...b..king Italian bread and Jim Dodge of Montpelier, Vermont, making chocolate fudge cake and apple pie. For this series, Julia agreed to write the introduction to a book based on the series, but this time she refused to write the book.

The controversy over the accompanying book began in 1995 when, after Julia insisted she would not write another book and Geoffrey hired Dorie Greenspan to author the book itself, he mailed multiple submissions of his (A La Carte Communications') proposal to several publishers for bidding because he needed a large advance to finance the filming. Judith Jones was surprised and angered by the multiple submissions, and Knopf did not make a bid, knowing that a bidding war would drive up the price of the book. Ink spilled in Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly and the and the New York Times New York Times, leaving the impression first that Knopf was dropping its longtime author and second that Knopf refused to relinquish electronic rights (though it had relinquished them for the first two books of the series). Misleadingly, the issue looked like it was part of the larger battle of the 1990s for writers to control their own electronic rights. A La Carte's lawyer, Carl DeSantis, told Publishers Weekly Publishers Weekly it was over "control of electronic rights." Yet both Judith Jones and Jane Friedman at Knopf/Random House insist that "it had nothing to do with electronic rights." it was over "control of electronic rights." Yet both Judith Jones and Jane Friedman at Knopf/Random House insist that "it had nothing to do with electronic rights."

Morrow made the winning bid with A La Carte Communications to publish the book, including payment for all photographs. Whether Knopf would have matched the bid no one will know, but it is doubtful. A La Carte received far more money than expected, and misleading reports that Julia always kept her electronic rights became big news. Writers from around the country called her for advice on retaining their electronic rights, just as they did when the New York Times New York Times decided to claim copyright on all articles written for the paper (Pepin announced he would no longer write for the decided to claim copyright on all articles written for the paper (Pepin announced he would no longer write for the Times) Times). These two issues would define writers' battles for claims to their work during this decade, and many turned to one of the oldest members of their profession for advice and leadership.

Drummond's budget for his master chefs and bakers series (about $35,000 per episode) compares with the cost of a half hour of Martha Stewart ($90,000), but contrasts dramatically with the millions spent for each episode of a weekly drama like E.R E.R. or Law & Order Law & Order. These relative costs explain the growth of (inexpensive) cooking shows on television. Yet the search for sponsors was never easy because PBS policy limits all advertising to a preliminary half minute. Part of Julia's contractual agreements on the last few series involved help and support (though not endors.e.m.e.nt) for their major sponsors, including Land O Lakes (they used 753 pounds of b.u.t.ter for the baking series) and Farberware. PBS contributed part of the funding and benefited most from the programs. A La Carte Communications and Julia, partners, benefited from book sales, which is why Julia was the chief promoter of what she honestly called "Dorie's book." This gracious honesty on celebrity-drive QVC "killed the book," said one publicist, and they sold one fifth the books she had on her previous appearance.

Drummond used three cameras for the baking series and made thirty-nine shows with twenty-six bakers, thus ensuring a regular slot in the season repertoire of local PBS stations. According to several of the crew, the major problem in making the series was in team morale when the ever-loyal Julia insisted Nancy Verde Barr be appointed a.s.sociate producer. Baking was more complicated to dramatize in the filming, according to Drummond, because the magic occurs inside the oven. Thus, at one point they had seventeen bread machines working: "If we lost a bread in the middle of a second rise, we would need a second bread and a third bread." When Julia watched Mary Bergin caramelize the sugar on the creme bruleed chocolate bundt cake with a blowtorch, Julia remarked, "I think every woman should have a blowtorch."

Baking with Julia was shown thirteen shows per season in 1996 and 1997, featuring bakers like Michel Richard, who began his career with the famous French pastry chef Gaston Lenotre; Lora Brody, who founded the Women's Culinary Guild and made the bread machine a common household appliance; Martha Stewart, who made "One Glorious Wedding Cake;" and Craig Kominiak, the tall and handsome baker of the Ecce Panis Bakery in New York City. "A real man," Julia purred upon seeing the tall, burly baker. was shown thirteen shows per season in 1996 and 1997, featuring bakers like Michel Richard, who began his career with the famous French pastry chef Gaston Lenotre; Lora Brody, who founded the Women's Culinary Guild and made the bread machine a common household appliance; Martha Stewart, who made "One Glorious Wedding Cake;" and Craig Kominiak, the tall and handsome baker of the Ecce Panis Bakery in New York City. "A real man," Julia purred upon seeing the tall, burly baker.

Fame came to Julia when she was mature, and she handled it with what Fred Ferretti in Gourmet Gourmet called "an innate ease" and grace, occasionally even being surprised by it. She had lived now so long that she was famous for being well known (no doubt the definition of an American celebrity). She became what one writer called "a familiar object next to which people might pose for photographs." But unlike Woody Allen, Charlie Chaplin, and Martha Stewart, the public has never turned on her. She never suffered the "perils of persona." called "an innate ease" and grace, occasionally even being surprised by it. She had lived now so long that she was famous for being well known (no doubt the definition of an American celebrity). She became what one writer called "a familiar object next to which people might pose for photographs." But unlike Woody Allen, Charlie Chaplin, and Martha Stewart, the public has never turned on her. She never suffered the "perils of persona."

"Fame is a fickle food upon a shifting plate," the poet Emily d.i.c.kinson wrote in the nineteenth century. Julia seemed aware of this New England wisdom, and with the help of Bill Truslow's eye on "quality control" she kept her integrity, nurturing the national hunger for the famous, so that she could keep doing what she loved to do and avoid loneliness and boredom. She was observed by a local journalist greeting guests at a garden party in Woodstock, Vermont, in the summer of 1996. She appeared to be like the queen mother, the observer thought: "If her public demeanor is one of bemused acceptance of the attention showered on her, her private aspect is of an elderly and omniscient bird who keeps her own counsel and is rather less reverential than the treatment accorded her." Both R. W. Apple, Jr., and Dun Gifford, on separate occasions, compared her to Michael Jordan: at the pinnacle of her career, she remains an American icon who transcends a single task or definition.

The changes in her private life came as a result of her aging. After her friend John McJennett's health began to fade, he was put into a nursing home, where he died of bone cancer in February 1996. "All my California friends are dropping like flies," she reported just after the deaths of Robert Hastings and Jack Wright. Then George Kubler and Mary Ripley died. "Woe," she often said. When his health weakened, her brother John and his wife moved into a retirement home. She wanted her family close to her, and she talked to Dorothy regularly. She found her renewal in other people ("My greatest happiness is a good meal with friends") and in short catnaps. She never joked about her age and denied ever having jet lag or fatigue. She possessed what Margaret Mead had said were the prerequisites for any American woman to succeed: superhuman energy and an ability to outwit the culture's plans for her.

She always kept her private life private, even from her closest professional friends. In 1995 Jacques Pepin thought that she had children, and Dorothy Cann Hamilton said she did not think she really knew Julia. Her personal a.s.sistant Stephanie Hersh was never an intimate. A friend with whom she traveled for years said, "I do not really know Julia." She was a social and physical animal, not a philosophical one. She remained, in her eighties, the girl who adored peanut b.u.t.ter and raw dough, who cried at movies and loved cats. She had a huge collection of rubber stamps, many of them images of cats, which she would imprint on the bottom of notes. She laughed at dirty jokes and planned parties, did not take herself seriously in private, but steeled herself publicly. She was generous, tough, and stubborn.

Her friend M. F. K. Fisher said of herself that age meant she could "get away with more. Say more of what I want to say and less of what people want to hear." Julia also got past what Fisher called the "protective covering of the middle years" and became more incautious and obstinate. All her traits became exaggerated, said Anne Willan. A former school friend said she had "grown more caustic than she used to be," taking on some of Paul's att.i.tudes. "She could be magisterial and imperious," said yet another. She had the stubbornness of Greta Garbo, the independence of Katharine Hepburn.

In January 1997 in Santa Barbara, she put the Seaview condominium up for sale and moved her furniture into storage and bought a private dwelling in a retirement village that she and Paul had chosen years before. She would not burden loved ones with any future infirmities (she thought); she was alone (she felt). She would keep the Cambridge house and office a few years longer before giving it to Smith College. She continued to teach and sell books, but perhaps her greatest triumphs came through television. Betty Fussell called her "a major woman television comic second only to Carol Burnett and Lucille Ball." Yet her true impact on television was changing the country's views on the importance of good food and good dining-while giving them a good show.

The pa.s.sion for cooking that had gripped Julia in 1949 in Paris was finally legitimized in her own country. By 1997, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the food service industry was the "fourth fastest-growing" in the country, a figure echoed by the National Restaurant a.s.sociation's estimates that by 2005 there will be "1.5 million new restaurant jobs" available. The nearly 300 chef schools could expect "an average of six to seven job possibilities for every chef and baker they graduate."

The television audience Julia began gathering in 1963 had burgeoned by 1997. One third of the programs of PBS, which now reached 98 percent of all homes, were cooking shows. When they were joined by TVFN, which claimed 17 million cable subscribers, and the cooking programs on the Discovery Channel and the Learning Channel, one executive was prompted to claim, "Food is the live entertainment of the future."

M. F. K. Fisher and A. J. Liebling (Between Meals) (Between Meals) may have first made it acceptable to love food and talk about it, but Julia spread that gospel to the middle cla.s.s. She is most proud of bringing men into the American kitchen. Yet Christopher Lydon, in one of the best profiles of Julia in 1996, believes her impact was greatest on women: "Queen Julia has done more than [Betty] Friedan, Gloria Steinern and Co. to show American women a model of power in public and expressive self-discovery at home." may have first made it acceptable to love food and talk about it, but Julia spread that gospel to the middle cla.s.s. She is most proud of bringing men into the American kitchen. Yet Christopher Lydon, in one of the best profiles of Julia in 1996, believes her impact was greatest on women: "Queen Julia has done more than [Betty] Friedan, Gloria Steinern and Co. to show American women a model of power in public and expressive self-discovery at home."

Her career, and the example of John McWilliams and Paul Child, had turned a happy-go-lucky, aimless tennis player into a world-cla.s.s educator and inspiration, what some called a workaholic (she herself would reject the word). "She fears death," says one of her family members. "I think that she fears if she stops she will die." At least she dreads professional death, for she loves what she does; if she stops she might be forgotten and not be able to continue.

HER LAST SUPPER.

The meal would begin with foie gras, oysters, and "a little caviar." For thirty-five years she was repeatedly asked for the menu of her last meal. For one who loved a simple, well-cooked piece of meat and a ripe pear for dessert, she always named the most extravagant and rarest foods for her last repast: First, caviar with Russian vodka (Duburovna) and oysters with Pouilly-Fuisse. And some foie gras, of course. Second, she wanted to eat pan-roasted duck-the duck never varied-accompanied by little onions and chanterelle mushrooms, her main dish. Sometimes she mentioned pommes Anna pommes Anna, "that lovely cake of sliced potatoes baked in b.u.t.ter to a crisp brown crust." Sometimes she wanted fresh asparagus with the duck. She would drink a 1962 Romanee-Conti, which she had had only once, for it cost $700 a bottle. When she was in a frugal mood, she chose a delicate red Bordeaux, a St.-Emilion or Chateau Palmer. Sometimes, Chateau Lafite-Rothschild. Third, good French bread with Roquefort and Brie would be eaten with a great Burgundy, such as Grands-Echezeaux.

Finally, dessert was a movable feast on which she changed her mind over the years. It varied from pungent sorbet with walnut cake to a simple ripe pear and green tea. She was never strong on desserts, but as she got older she decided she could eat a gooey chocolate dessert or a charlotte Malakoff. When she dreamed big, her dessert was the creme brulee from Le Cirque with Chateau d'Yquem 1975 or 1976 at $450 a bottle.

"And I would die happy."

When she was asked for her "favorite comfort food," she responded firmly, "Red meat and gin!" A pioneer of pleasure in a puritan country. A st.u.r.dy "pre-war feminist," as Camille Paglia, the author of s.e.xual Personae s.e.xual Personae, describes women like Julia Child, Amelia Earhart, and Katharine Hepburn. Paglia, once called a "motormouth gender contrarian," calls Julia Child "a major American woman" who has been neglected by the academic feminist establishment ("the anorexia- and bulimia-obsessed victimology of academic studies!") because Julia is the "opposite of today's victim psychology": "This country was a waste-land of Philistinism in terms of food until ('food-affirming') Julia Child came on the scene.... [S]he is one of those figures in history who totally transformed American culture."

In her old age, Julia joined that n.o.ble species, the Grand Old Gal-a common apotheosis for brilliant women. She may stand with her head tipped a little down and sideward, as Eleanor Roosevelt did when her back became stooped, but she is still the queen. Despite b.u.m knees weakening her gait, and the occasional need to lean against the stove (or on the table), she worked at a barely diminished pace. After all, as she loved to point out, "Escoffier lived to be ninety-three and my old chef Max Bugnard lived to be ninety-six."

Her appet.i.te for life will never be sated. "Retired people are boring," she claims. "In this line of work, you never have to retire. You keep right on until you're through."

TELEVISION S SERIES.

t.i.tLE.

NUMBER NUMBER.

YEAR(S)FILMED YEAR(S)FILMED.

1. The French Chef The French Chef (black and white) 119.

196366 196366 2. The French Chef The French Chef (color)

90.

197073 197073 3. Julia Child & Julia Child & Company

13.

1978 1978.

4. Julia Child & More Julia Child & More Company

13.

1979 1979.

5. Dinner at Julia's

13.

1983 1983.

6. Cooking with Master Cooking with Master Chefs

16.

1993 1993.

7. In Julia's Kitchen In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs

26.

1994 1994.

8. Baking with Julia Baking with Julia

39.

1996 1996.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.

AND S SOURCES.

JULIA CHILD'S friendly generosity and cheerful responsiveness to my many queries have not only made my five years of research a personal pleasure, they have immeasurably enriched this biography. Never has she asked to read or approve my work, a calculated wisdom that reveals trust and respect for the biographical process, bemused resignation based on decades of being misquoted, self-confidence, and an honest openness to life and to others. I could not have written her biography without the total access to her collected and uncollected papers she accorded me. She opened every file and datebook, offered the names of those (very few) who might give me negative opinions ("good quotes," she promised), and prepared meals for me when I visited. She has left me with the burden of responsibility for interpretations and (mis)judgments. friendly generosity and cheerful responsiveness to my many queries have not only made my five years of research a personal pleasure, they have immeasurably enriched this biography. Never has she asked to read or approve my work, a calculated wisdom that reveals trust and respect for the biographical process, bemused resignation based on decades of being misquoted, self-confidence, and an honest openness to life and to others. I could not have written her biography without the total access to her collected and uncollected papers she accorded me. She opened every file and datebook, offered the names of those (very few) who might give me negative opinions ("good quotes," she promised), and prepared meals for me when I visited. She has left me with the burden of responsibility for interpretations and (mis)judgments.

One's friends, they say, are a reflection of one's self, and in the case of Julia Child the cast is joyful, mult.i.tudinous, and multinational. They reflect her generosity and support and made my work a delight. Her sister, Dorothy Cousins, offered me family letters, photographs, her mother's diary, and a vast clipping file of Julia's career; her brother, John McWilliams, gave me photographs and a copy of their grandfather's memoirs; her nieces, nephews, and cousins shared letters and hours of their memories and insights.

Special thanks to culinary historians Phil and Mary Hyman, who, during one of their delicious dinners in Paris, first suggested to me they had the perfect subject for my next biography. They were most convincing that I should emphasize the French-American connection. Bert Sonnenfeld gave a hearty second to the Hyman's motion and has offered support, expertise, and, as always, the final read-through. I am particularly grateful to Stephanie Hersh, a.s.sistant to Julia Child, for her delightful wit and professional a.s.sistance; Kristine Dahl, my agent at International Creative Management, for her belief in the importance of this biography; and Elizabeth Lerner, my editor at Doubleday, for her perceptive editing and encouragement.

For research a.s.sistance, I wish to thank Michael Hargraves of the Getty Museum, who offered his M. F. K. Fisher archive, his www expertise, and unfailing research skills; Betty Rosbottom, whose energy is matched only by her mentor's, for insightful recipe and cookbook a.n.a.lysis; Kathleen O'Neill for hours of computerized genealogy a.s.sistance; Roberta Klugman, executive director of the American Inst.i.tute of Wine and Food (AIWF), for answering all my questions; Peter Petraitis for rare books; Karen Walker for additional Paris research; and George Gruenwald, Barbara Hull, and Gwyn Erwin for research a.s.sistance. My grat.i.tude to the family and friends of Julia Child who read portions of this ma.n.u.script that pertained to their experience.

Several people offered both hospitality and research sources, for which I remain in their debt: E. S. (Peggy) Yntema (Cambridge), Elisabeth Hill and Martha Starr (Washington, DC), Jeanine and Roland Plottel (NYC), Ronald and Betty Rosbottom (Amherst, MA), Anne Willan & Mark Cherniavsky (Burgundy, France); France Thibault (Chateauneuf de Gra.s.se, France, where I spent two visits in Simca's room).

FOR SHARING their memories and meals, for giving me access to letters and photographs, insights and support, I wish to thank the following: Marshall Ackerman, Kathie Alex, Rebecca Alssid, R. W. Apple, Jr., David Haward Bain, Helene Baltrusaitis, Elisabeth Bra.s.sart, Nancy Verde Barr, Michael and Ariane Batterberry, Mary Zook Beales, Emily M. (Wendy) Beck, Henry Becton, Jr., Mary Cootes Belin, Karen Berk, Fern Berman, Ailene (Martin) and Jean Berrard, Louisette Bertholle (Madame la Comtesse de Naleche), Peter and Mari Bicknell, Margrit Biever (Mondavi), James Bishop, Tom and Frances Bissell, Corinne M. Black, Paul Bohannan, Jane Bollinger, Alison Boteler, Francis Myer Brennan, Joan Brewster, Benjamin H. Brown, Philip S. Brown, Barbara Ord Bryant, Marian Burros, Mary Ford Cairns, Lou and Mary Cannon, Thomas P. Carhartt, Page Carter, Narcisse Chamberlain, Brien and Rudolph Chelminski, Jonathan Child, Rachel Child, Robert Clark, Pat Brown Clopper, Andre J. Cointreau, Eleanor Roberts Colt, Joseph R. Coolidge, Constance Thayer Cory, Dorothy Cousins, Philadelphia Cousins and Bob Moran, Samuel Cousins, Howard B. Crotinger, Martha Culbertson, Carol and B. J. Cutler, Marion Cunningham, Susy Davidson, Peter Davison, Elton Davies, Sylvie and Jacques Delecluse, Martha G. Dennis, Carl DeSantis, Mark DeVoto, Froydis and Jan W. Dietrichson, Mary Tonetti Dorra, Harriet Doerr, John P. Downing, Geoffrey Drummond, Robert W. Duemling, Madame F. du Couedic, William Echikson, Bjorn and Eline Egge, Colin Eisler, E. Lee Fairley, George Faison, Barbara Pool Fenzl, Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson, John Ferrone, Lyne S. Few, Carol Field, Lisbeth Fisher, Janet Fletcher, Ted and Linda Fondulas, Terry Ford, Pierre Franey, Ken Frank, Jane Friedman, Jean Friendly, James Fullerton, Betty Fussell, Catherine At.w.a.ter Galbraith, John Kenneth Galbraith, Katy and Freeman Gates, Catherine Gewertz, Charles Gibson, K. Dun Gifford, Janice Goldklang, Richard Graff, Agnes Green, Dorie Greenspan, Paul Grimes, George Gruenwald, Barbara Haber, Charles Hall, Orian Hall Hallor, Dorothy Cann Hamilton, Viola Tuckerman Hansen, Nancy Kirby Harris, Anne Hastings, Robert P. Hastings, Nancy Gregg Hatch, Harriet P. Healy, Patrick Healy, Louis J. Hector, Nancy White Hector, Susan h.e.l.ler, Jack Hemingway, Pamela Henstell, Harriet Thacher Herrick, Stephanie Hersh, Karen Hess, Jens P. and Mosse Heyerdahl, Fritz Hier, Jim Hill, Alice C. Hisc.o.c.k, Anita Hinckley Hovey, Fisher and Debby Howe, Sue Barton Huffman, Robert A. Huttenback, Philip and Mary Hyman, David O. Ives, J. Roland Jacobs, Susan Jacobson, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, Pamela Sheldon Johns, Anne Winton Johnston, Jeffrey Jones, Judith Jones, Barbara Kafka, Elizabeth Parker Kase, Lynne Rossetto Kasper, Edmond Kennedy, Graham Kerr, Mannie and Willette Klausner, Roberta Klugman, Susan Donnell Konkel, William A. Koshland, Harriet Kostic, Elizabeth and George A. Kubler, Christopher k.u.mp, Peter k.u.mp, Alexandre Lazaroff, Paul Levy, Lorance W. Lisle, Ruth Lockwood, James Londe, Jan Longone, James M. McDonald, Elizabeth McIntosh, John McJennett, J. Alexander McWilliams, Jr., David McWilliams, Josephine and John McWilliams III, Patricia G. McWilliams, Saba McWilliams, Maggie Mah, Rosemary Manell, Carolyn Margolis, Byron S. Martin, Dudley Martin, Edward A. Martin, I. Guy Martin, Michael McCarty, Marc Meneau, Sally Bicknell Miall, Barry Michlin, Juliana Middleton, Helen Kirkpatrick Milbank, Amy Bess Miller, Jane C. Owen Molard, Robert Mondavi, John L. Moore, Russell and Marian Morash, Sara Moulton, Richard S. Mowrer, Carrita Nelson, Kyle Nelson, Lizabeth Nicol, Eleanor (Ollie) Noall, Clara Rideout Noyses, Richard Olney, Deborah Olson, Carolyn O'Neil, Dana Gans Parker, Suzanne Patterson, Jacques Pepin, Kathleen Perry, Corinne M. Poole, Jean MacKenzie deSola Pool, Herbert and Patricia R. Pratt, Erica Child Prud'homme, Wolfgang Puck, Edwin J. Putzell, Steven and Barbara Raichlen, Joan Reardon, Kenneth O. Rhodes, Mary Livingston Ripley, Mary S. Risley, Stuart W. and Rosalind Rockwell, Susan M. Rogers, Betty Rosbottom, Natale Rusconi, Mary Francis Snow Russell, Thibaut de Saint Phalle, Henny and Berge Santo, Marian C. Schlesinger, Margie Schodt, Laura Shapiro, Paul C. and Sandra Sheeline, Virginia Durand Shelden, Mimi Sheraton, James Sherer, Nancy Silverton, Roxane Ruhl Simmons, Barbara Sims-Bell, Joseph C. Sloane, Catharine Carton Smith, Charmaine Solomon, Carl G. Sontheimer, Darthea Speyer, Zanne Early Stewart, Perry and Moune Stieglitz, David Strada, Steven Sullivan, Eleanor Thiry Summers, Jeffrey Steingarten, Madame France Thibault, Jean-Francois Thibault, Grant P. and Sharon Thompson, Lionel Tiger, Elizabeth Cathcart Tisdal, George Trescher, Clay Triplette, William A. Truslow, Charlotte Snyder Turgeon, Gregory Usher, Margaret Clark VanderVeer, Louise Vincent, Freifrau Dorothea von Stetten, Janou Walcutt, Susan Walter, Mary Case Warner, Marjory Ellen Lacy Warren, Alice Waters, Nach Waxman, Jan Weimer, Patricia Wells, Andrea B. Werbel, Donald M. Weston, Jr., Mary Weston, Barbara Ketcham Wheaton, Aileen Johnson Whitaker, Jasper White, Frances Proctor Wilkinson, Anne Willan and Mark Cherniavsky, Charles E. Williams, Faith h.e.l.ler Willinger, Craig Alan Wilson, Clark Wolf, Paula Wolfert, Jim Wood, Gay Bradley Wright, Douwe Yntema, E. S. (Peggy) Yntema. And thanks to more than 150 others who answered my their memories and meals, for giving me access to letters and photographs, insights and support, I wish to thank the following: Marshall Ackerman, Kathie Alex, Rebecca Alssid, R. W. Apple, Jr., David Haward Bain, Helene Baltrusaitis, Elisabeth Bra.s.sart, Nancy Verde Barr, Michael and Ariane Batterberry, Mary Zook Beales, Emily M. (Wendy) Beck, Henry Becton, Jr., Mary Cootes Belin, Karen Berk, Fern Berman, Ailene (Martin) and Jean Berrard, Louisette Bertholle (Madame la Comtesse de Naleche), Peter and Mari Bicknell, Margrit Biever (Mondavi), James Bishop, Tom and Frances Bissell, Corinne M. Black, Paul Bohannan, Jane Bollinger, Alison Boteler, Francis Myer Brennan, Joan Brewster, Benjamin H. Brown, Philip S. Brown, Barbara Ord Bryant, Marian Burros, Mary Ford Cairns, Lou and Mary Cannon, Thomas P. Carhartt, Page Carter, Narcisse Chamberlain, Brien and Rudolph Chelminski, Jonathan Child, Rachel Child, Robert Clark, Pat Brown Clopper, Andre J. Cointreau, Eleanor Roberts Colt, Joseph R. Coolidge, Constance Thayer Cory, Dorothy Cousins, Philadelphia Cousins and Bob Moran, Samuel Cousins, Howard B. Crotinger, Martha Culbertson, Carol and B. J. Cutler, Marion Cunningham, Susy Davidson, Peter Davison, Elton Davies, Sylvie and Jacques Delecluse, Martha G. Dennis, Carl DeSantis, Mark DeVoto, Froydis and Jan W. Dietrichson, Mary Tonetti Dorra, Harriet Doerr, John P. Downing, Geoffrey Drummond, Robert W. Duemling, Madame F. du Couedic, William Echikson, Bjorn and Eline Egge, Colin Eisler, E. Lee Fairley, George Faison, Barbara Pool Fenzl, Priscilla Parkhurst Ferguson, John Ferrone, Lyne S. Few, Carol Field, Lisbeth Fisher, Janet Fletcher, Ted and Linda Fondulas, Terry Ford, Pierre Franey, Ken Frank, Jane Friedman, Jean Friendly, James Fullerton, Betty Fussell, Catherine At.w.a.ter Galbraith, John Kenneth Galbraith, Katy and Freeman Gates, Catherine Gewertz, Charles Gibson, K. Dun Gifford, Janice Goldklang, Richard Graff, Agnes Green, Dorie Greenspan, Paul Grimes, George Gruenwald, Barbara Haber, Charles Hall, Orian Hall Hallor, Dorothy Cann Hamilton, Viola Tuckerman Hansen, Nancy Kirby Harris, Anne Hastings, Robert P. Hastings, Nancy Gregg Hatch, Harriet P. Healy, Patrick Healy, Louis J. Hector, Nancy White Hector, Susan h.e.l.ler, Jack Hemingway, Pamela Henstell, Harriet Thacher Herrick, Stephanie Hersh, Karen Hess, Jens P. and Mosse Heyerdahl, Fritz Hier, Jim Hill, Alice C. Hisc.o.c.k, Anita Hinckley Hovey, Fisher and Debby Howe, Sue Barton Huffman, Robert A. Huttenback, Philip and Mary Hyman, David O. Ives, J. Roland Jacobs, Susan Jacobson, Nancy Harmon Jenkins, Pamela Sheldon Johns, Anne Winton Johnston, Jeffrey Jones, Judith Jones, Barbara Kafka, Elizabeth Parker Kase, Lynne Rossetto Kasper, Edmond Kennedy, Graham Kerr, Mannie and Willette Klausner, Roberta Klugman, Susan Donnell Konkel, William A. Koshland, Harriet Kostic, Elizabeth and George A. Kubler, Christopher k.u.mp, Peter k.u.mp, Alexandre Lazaroff, Paul Levy, Lorance W. Lisle, Ruth Lockwood, James Londe, Jan Longone, James M. McDonald, Elizabeth McIntosh, John McJennett, J. Alexander McWilliams, Jr., David McWilliams, Josephine and John McWilliams III, Patricia G. McWilliams, Saba McWilliams, Maggie Mah, Rosemary Manell, Carolyn Margolis, Byron S. Martin, Dudley Martin, Edward A. Martin, I. Guy Martin, Michael McCarty, Marc Meneau, Sally Bicknell Miall, Barry Michlin, Juliana Middleton, Helen Kirkpatrick Milbank, Amy Bess Miller, Jane C. Owen Molard, Robert Mondavi, John L. Moore, Russell and Marian Morash, Sara Moulton, Richard S. Mowrer, Carrita Nelson, Kyle Nelson, Lizabeth Nicol, Eleanor (Ollie) Noall, Clara Rideout Noyses, Richard Olney, Deborah Olson, Carolyn O'Neil, Dana Gans Parker, Suzanne Patterson, Jacques Pepin, Kathleen Perry, Corinne M. Poole, Jean MacKenzie deSola Pool, Herbert and Patricia R. Pratt, Erica Child Prud'homme, Wolfgang Puck, Edwin J. Putzell, Steven and Barbara Raichlen, Joan Reardon, Kenneth O. Rhodes, Mary Livingston Ripley, Mary S. Risley, Stuart W. and Rosalind Rockwell, Susan M. Rogers, Betty Rosbottom, Natale Rusconi, Mary Francis Snow Russell, Thibaut de Saint Phalle, Henny and Berge Santo, Marian C. Schlesinger, Margie Schodt, Laura Shapiro, Paul C. and Sandra Sheeline, Virginia Durand Shelden, Mimi Sheraton, James Sherer, Nancy Silverton, Roxane Ruhl Simmons, Barbara Sims-Bell, Joseph C. Sloane, Catharine Carton Smith, Charmaine Solomon, Carl G. Sontheimer, Darthea Speyer, Zanne Early Stewart, Perry and Moune Stieglitz, David Strada, Steven Sullivan, Eleanor Thiry Summers, Jeffrey Steingarten, Madame France Thibault, Jean-Francois Thibault, Grant P. and Sharon Thompson, Lionel Tiger, Elizabeth Cathcart Tisdal, George Trescher, Clay Triplette, William A. Truslow, Charlotte Snyder Turgeon, Gregory Usher, Margaret Clark VanderVeer, Louise Vincent, Freifrau Dorothea von Stetten, Janou Walcutt, Susan Walter, Mary Case Warner, Marjory Ellen Lacy Warren, Alice Waters, Nach Waxman, Jan Weimer, Patricia Wells, Andrea B. Werbel, Donald M. Weston, Jr., Mary Weston, Barbara Ketcham Wheaton, Aileen Johnson Whitaker, Jasper White, Frances Proctor Wilkinson, Anne Willan and Mark Cherniavsky, Charles E. Williams, Faith h.e.l.ler Willinger, Craig Alan Wilson, Clark Wolf, Paula Wolfert, Jim Wood, Gay Bradley Wright, Douwe Yntema, E. S. (Peggy) Yntema. And thanks to more than 150 others who answered my New York Times New York Times query, including numerous journalists who had interviewed Julia Child, and others who answered brief telephone queries. query, including numerous journalists who had interviewed Julia Child, and others who answered brief telephone queries.

THE JOHN MCWILLIAMS family records were burned in a fire in 1901. What remains are the personal family records were burned in a fire in 1901. What remains are the personal Recollections Recollections of grandfather John McWilliams, who dictated them to his secretary during the later years of his life, a genealogy of the Weston family (10651951), and the letters and photographs which are part of the private collection of the McWilliams and Child families (Julia McWilliams Child, Dorothy McWilliams Cousins, John and Josephine McWilliams III, Phila Cousins, Rachel Child, Erica Prud'homme, Jonathan Child, Saba McWilliams, J. Alexander McWilliams, Jr., and Dana Gans Parker). of grandfather John McWilliams, who dictated them to his secretary during the later years of his life, a genealogy of the Weston family (10651951), and the letters and photographs which are part of the private collection of the McWilliams and Child families (Julia McWilliams Child, Dorothy McWilliams Cousins, John and Josephine McWilliams III, Phila Cousins, Rachel Child, Erica Prud'homme, Jonathan Child, Saba McWilliams, J. Alexander McWilliams, Jr., and Dana Gans Parker).

In addition to the family papers above, I am deeply indebted to the following persons (or their heirs) who shared with me their private and unpublished personal diaries and memoirs: Eleanor Thiry Summers, Joseph R. Coolidge, Elizabeth Parker Kase, Julia McWilliams Child, Paul Cushing Child, Jeanne Taylor, and Avis DeVoto. For direct access to additional letters of Julia Child, I thank Barbara Pool Fenzl, Harriet Healy, Jens & Mosse Heyerdahl, Peter k.u.mp, John L. Moore, Richard Mowrer, Kyle Nelson, Corinne Poole, Basil and Eleanor Summers, Anne Willan and Mark Cherniavsky, and others.

Many organizations provided access to special collections of doc.u.ments, materials, and facilities. I wish to acknowledge the individuals who were especially helpful to me. In particular, I am indebted to the warm encouragement and sometimes special intervention of Barbara Haber, Curator of Printed Books, and Barbara Wheaton, honorary curator, of the Schlesinger Library at Radcliffe, where the papers of Julia Child, Simone Beck, Avis DeVoto, and M. F. K. Fisher are housed. The following libraries and inst.i.tutions offered vital resources for the research for this book:

American Heritage Center. James Beard Collection, University of Wyoming. Laramie, WY. JB/JC Correspondence, 195373.

Avon Old Farms School Elizabeth A. Coburn, Baxter Library, and Gordon Clark Ramsey, University of Hartford, Historian of Old Farms Schools. Elizabeth A. Coburn, Baxter Library, and Gordon Clark Ramsey, University of Hartford, Historian of Old Farms Schools.