Appetite For Life_ The Biography Of Julia Child Part 18

The warm sea breezes through their third-floor windows, the walks along the beach each day, and the warm swimming pool nearby offered daily succor for the seventy-nine-year-old and infirm Paul. Julia even enjoyed the domestic convenience of a nearby trash chute and the elevator beside her front door that whisked them belowground to their car. Both saved her aching knee, now almost stripped of cartilage. But she had no plans to be caught up in a swirl of retirement parties and litanies of death. No retirement in the near future for her!

The year 1981 was a watershed in her life and in the larger culinary world: the purchase of a third home, where they intended to spend their winters and eventually settle; a greater involvement in furthering the cooking profession-a heavy schedule of live teaching in cooking schools and, most significantly, the founding of the American Inst.i.tute of Wine and Food. Also during this time she made two promises that ensured full activities for years to come: to become food editor of Parade Parade magazine in 1982 and to make a new television series, this time in Santa Barbara, in 1983. It was as if the warm Pacific breezes gave her a second or third wind, as it would the new President of the United States (just a few months older than Julia), who lived here when winter weather threatened the District of Columbia. Ronald and Nancy Reagan owned Rancho del Cielo high in the hills above the Childs. Nancy was also a Smith graduate, Julia pointed out to Avis DeVoto, who was in s...o...b..und Cambridge when she issued a needless warning: "Don't turn into one of those California Republicans!" magazine in 1982 and to make a new television series, this time in Santa Barbara, in 1983. It was as if the warm Pacific breezes gave her a second or third wind, as it would the new President of the United States (just a few months older than Julia), who lived here when winter weather threatened the District of Columbia. Ronald and Nancy Reagan owned Rancho del Cielo high in the hills above the Childs. Nancy was also a Smith graduate, Julia pointed out to Avis DeVoto, who was in s...o...b..und Cambridge when she issued a needless warning: "Don't turn into one of those California Republicans!"

"Because the continental shelf drops down so fast here, the fish selection is now immense," Julia wrote Simca, Avis, and Louisette. The Dungeness crab, fresh shrimp, spiny lobsters, and sea ba.s.s excited her, as did the "wonderful fresh vegetables" from nearby Oxnard. The restaurants were nothing to get excited about, but she would soon have an impact on the local food scene. She turned the dining room next to her kitchen into a study, Paul hung pots and pans in the kitchen, and Julia enjoyed cooking with all the fresh local produce at home. Not unlike others who move to California, she was on a diet, having slowly put on weight through the years. She had heard about the new diet sweeping the country when she went to her Cambridge hairdresser and complimented his slimmed-down waist. She walked straight to a local bookstore after the shampoo and set to buy Herman Tarnower's The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet.

By 1980, as Robert Clark points out in his biography of Beard, the American public had become schizophrenic about its food: encouraged to eat deep-fat-fried potato skins, McDonald's hamburgers, and goat cheese with their bitter green salads on the one hand, and on the other to monitor fat, cholesterol, sugar, and salt and take up jogging. Media images conveyed the full range from hearty-eating gourmets (James Beard was extreme at 260 pounds) to Twiggy-thin commercial models.

Throughout Beard's life, Clark notes, he "could effectively lose weight only as a captive in hospitals and clinics, a Ulysses of appet.i.te lashed to the mast." Julia's weight never varied widely because she did not have an eating disorder. At age forty-two (after purchasing her first pair of reading gla.s.ses) she put on eight pounds in ten days of pasta eating in Italy, pounds which she quickly lost. Upon quitting smoking after her mastectomy in 1968, she gained ten pounds in three months. This time, after taking the ten pounds off, she slowly put back twenty. When she decided to lose weight in 1974 on a 1,200-calorie diet, she lost ten and put back twenty-typical of dieting patterns. By 1981 she realized she would have to change her eating patterns permanently and found a jump start with the high-protein, low-carbohydrate Scarsdale plan. The daily discipline appealed to her very nature, and the weight came off. When she was filming a series of spots for Good Morning America Good Morning America that fall, food writer Betty Fussell made a note on her taped interview about Julia's "slender hips" and the "length of torso from waist down. [We] don't see this on [the] TV frame, but she has an elegance that is not the bosomy matron projected from the waist up." that fall, food writer Betty Fussell made a note on her taped interview about Julia's "slender hips" and the "length of torso from waist down. [We] don't see this on [the] TV frame, but she has an elegance that is not the bosomy matron projected from the waist up."

Julia turned her weight-loss and change-of-eating routine into a lengthy article with recipes for one of her monthly McCall's McCall's articles. In this, one of her last features, she vowed, "I do solemnly swear that I shall never be fat again." She kept her word. After all, she was nearly seventy, not able to exercise as much because her knees bothered her, and constantly surrounded by food. At home she cooked lighter, as ill.u.s.trated in the fat-free tomato sauce she featured in the articles. In this, one of her last features, she vowed, "I do solemnly swear that I shall never be fat again." She kept her word. After all, she was nearly seventy, not able to exercise as much because her knees bothered her, and constantly surrounded by food. At home she cooked lighter, as ill.u.s.trated in the fat-free tomato sauce she featured in the McCall's McCall's article-a sauce that could be used in stews, a squid dish, chicken bouillabaisse, and any pasta dish. The recipe included ripe tomatoes (chopped and drained), canned Italian plum tomatoes or tomato paste, and small green tomatoes, but the flavor came from the onion, garlic, half cup of wine, a few drops of hot-pepper sauce, pinch of saffron, and basil (or thyme or oregano). She simmered the mixture, cooled it, then kept it in her refrigerator in a covered jar. When she dined out, she learned to leave food on her plate. She could take just two bites of a rich dessert. But she never gave up quality products such as "rich creamery b.u.t.ter" (the three words always went together in her vocabulary). Everything, but in moderation. article-a sauce that could be used in stews, a squid dish, chicken bouillabaisse, and any pasta dish. The recipe included ripe tomatoes (chopped and drained), canned Italian plum tomatoes or tomato paste, and small green tomatoes, but the flavor came from the onion, garlic, half cup of wine, a few drops of hot-pepper sauce, pinch of saffron, and basil (or thyme or oregano). She simmered the mixture, cooled it, then kept it in her refrigerator in a covered jar. When she dined out, she learned to leave food on her plate. She could take just two bites of a rich dessert. But she never gave up quality products such as "rich creamery b.u.t.ter" (the three words always went together in her vocabulary). Everything, but in moderation.

Except for two months in the spring and two months in the fall in Cambridge, Paul and Julia spent the first year in Santa Barbara. They even canceled their trip to France (for the first time in nearly twenty years), to have two porches enclosed for extra s.p.a.ce in their condominium. They left only to tape Good Morning America Good Morning America in New York City and to fulfill commitments to conventions and professional organizations. in New York City and to fulfill commitments to conventions and professional organizations.

"Only Moses disrupting the Red Sea caused more commotion than Julia Child's hike down the housewares-jammed aisles of McCormick Place in Chicago." She fingered, squeezed, patted, bent, and lifted the new appliances, skillets, and microwaves at the National Housewares Manufacturers a.s.sociation's semiannual exhibition. Yes, she would try anything in her kitchen if she could send it back. "I am not a prisoner of any manufacturer," she informed a reporter. The next year they invited her back as the princ.i.p.al speaker.

"THE LIGHTBULB DINNER"

Gertrude Stein was correct when she said the French love to talk about talking about food. But conversation among foodies is not always about the food eaten yesterday, today, and tomorrow. During a Santa Barbara dinner on February 9, 1981, at the home of a woman named Flora Courtois, the talk turned to doing something significant about the way Americans cook and eat. The dinner was initiated by Richard Graff, whom Julia had met earlier in Provence and then at his (and his brother's) Chalone Winery in Sonoma County. He invited Julia and Paul to dinner, again enlisting his friend s.h.i.+rley Sarvis. Also at the dinner was Robert Huttenback, then chancellor of the University of California in Santa Barbara.

They would dub this evening "The Lightbulb Dinner." It began when Julia expressed frustration about there being no educational center for culinary arts and sciences, which she believed was not acknowledged as a very serious subject for study in the United States. She seemed ready to take on American academia the way she had tackled French cooking thirty years before.

"It is a shame that the program they have at Antioch is not more of a success," Julia remarked, comparing gastronomy to architecture-"you have the history, theory, and the hands-on as well."

"Well, why don't we do it out here at the University of California?" Bob Huttenback remarked. "There is a piece of land with a house out on the west campus [by the ocean] that is not being used."

Such was the beginning of what would ultimately be called the American Inst.i.tute of Wine and Food, but the talk that day had less to do with an "inst.i.tute" than with an academic center like that tried by Professor John Ronsheim of Antioch College in Ohio. Ronsheim was a brilliant eccentric who championed academic degrees in food studies. ("He was nuts and full of wonderful, crazy ideas," says Alice Waters.) Julia was keen for education; Huttenback (a historian) was interested in an independent research center and clearinghouse outside the traditional academic disciplines. Antic.i.p.ating the faculty response, he said it was too early for an academic program. He was a creative chancellor at the Santa Barbara campus for three years, raised millions for the university, and was determined to turn what was called "Surfer Tech" into a world center of academic excellence.

The group met a second time in July, this time at Julia's Seaview condominium, with Rosemary helping her prepare the lunch of stuffed quail. The group now included Robert Mondavi and his wife, Margrit Biever, Kate Firestone, Alice Waters, and British-born Jeremiah Tower, former chef at Waters's Chez Panisse, now owner of the Balboa Cafe (and later Stars). Marion Cunningham, who (with Jeri Laber) had rescued the old Boston Cooking School Cook Book Boston Cooking School Cook Book by revising it in 1979 as by revising it in 1979 as The Fannie Farmer Cookbook The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, was also there. "This was a brainstorming session," says Graff, and they discussed the purpose of the center and its location on the west campus. Graff took notes. Waters strongly argued for a garden and a computer center to help in the research for better food. Consequently, Huttenback says, he "offered more land for the herb garden."

Julia and I had a difference of opinion on what was a priority [says Alice Waters]. Julia thought people should get a degree in the culinary arts. I was intent on an experimental garden and felt that the practical information that would be gotten from the garden should be put on computers and available to people all around the country. I wanted people to be taped who were involved in all these processes of food in Europe and America. Jeremiah Tower was interested in this also.

They all discussed naming their organization (the phrase "enology and gastronomy" was used repeatedly), opening "a place where chefs and winemakers could meet and discuss common problems," and beginning a journal.

After the initial meeting, Julia heard that her Cambridge neighbor David Segal, an economics professor and bibliophile, had purchased for $120,000 the Andre Simon and Eleanor Lowenstein collections of historical cookery books from Lowenstein (whose Corner Book Store Julia patronized in New York City). Simon, the founder of the London Wine and Food Society and a great bibliophile, had collected books covering the sixteenth through the nineteenth century. When Julia heard that Segal had to sell the collection (except for cutlery books, which he wanted himself), she realized it was just what the new organization needed and suggested that Segal call Graff, who immediately went into action to find a buyer for the books. They would then have a tangible foundation ["real substance," says Huttenback] for the research center. This "most important a.s.semblage of French, English, and American books on gastronomy" would be, according to Graff, "a perfect beginning." Tower found a guardian angel in Lila Jaeger of the Freemark Abbey and Rutherford Hill wineries in the Napa Valley, who offered to pay the $65,000 (Graff estimates) in trust until the group could reimburse her.

In order to give Lila Jaeger a promissory note, the group needed to have a legal basis. Thus, on September 23, the American Inst.i.tute of Wine and Food was founded, and purchased the Simon-Lowenstein collection. "Lila actually bought the collection herself with the understanding that she would hold it until we could pay her off," says Graff. Because they needed bylaws, Graff's lawyer handed him the Sierra Club's bylaws as Graff was running out of the office. Segal catalogued the approximately 850 books and sent them to John Howells Books on Post Street in San Francisco to be stored.

Julia was in Cambridge at the time of the "founding," and Graff wrote (October 9) to tell her they had chosen the name Wine and Food as "more accurate and straightforward" (Huttenback also thought that "Wine" had more cachet). Julia had provided the inspiration, but it was Graff who carried the ball. He wrote to leading members of the food and wine worlds in October, saying, "Together with Julia Child and Jeremiah Tower, I am writing to you to announce the formation of the American Inst.i.tute of Wine and Food and to invite you to become a Founding Member ... [and] to be on our Board of Advisors." The location of the AIWF would be the Santa Barbara campus. Paul Levy, the American food writer in London, was upset that the organization would not have "International" in the t.i.tle. d.i.c.k countered that the name London Inst.i.tute of Tropical Medicines merely denotes the location of the organization. (Fifteen years later, the Paris chapter unsuccessfully revived the same Levy argument.) As the university students walked by with their surfboards, the third meeting of the group was "hanging ten on their own indubitable wave-the unprecedented surge of interest in food and wine in this country, especially ... in California," wrote Charles Perry, a foodie friend of Waters and Tower from Berkeley. He called it "a gastronomic think tank ... the first meeting of an organization without parallel in the world." They could feel the crest that sunny December 2, and were full of hope, grand plans, and a lunch of cold Pacific lobster and salads prepared by Julia and Jeremiah in the Cliff House on the rustic west campus of UCSB. The group now included those who responded to Graff's invitation, vintners, restaurateurs, and food writers. Already on the Board of Advisors were Julia Child, Robert Mondavi, James Beard, M. F. K. Fisher, Danny Kaye, and Michael McCarty (of Michael's restaurant in Santa Monica), as well as Paul Levy and Alan Davidson of London and the Oxford Symposium on Food. The following January the UCSB administration approved the location of the site.

Alice Waters's commitment to videotaping (and selling) food-making processes before they pa.s.sed away was still on the agenda, as were a scholarly journal, a library of original books and reprints, and research fellows.h.i.+ps. The group formally agreed to establish "a center for the advanced study of enology and gastronomy, a repository of knowledge, and a source of information for its members as well as for the public." Their fund-raising goal was $3 to $5 million in the first year. Huttenback expected his faculty to vote approval of the use of the building and land, but he was already hearing dissension from some, including his good friend Professor Henry Dorra, a Frenchman upon whom he had a.s.sumed he could count. As John Ronsheim discovered at Antioch, traditional academic departments did not recognize gastronomy as an academic or worthy study.

"The person who really grabbed it and ran was d.i.c.k Graff," says Huttenback. During the coming year, Graff worked diligently to raise funds for the center and for the purchase of the books, sometimes taking Julia and Paul with him to visit major donors, notably a group hosted by Martha Culbertson of the Fallbrook Winery near San Diego. They eventually enlisted most of the big-name vintners of California: Graff, Mondavi, Sanford, Phelps, Sebastiani, Sterling, Culbertson, Martini, Mira.s.sou, and Du Pont "SilverStone." They also had Fritz Maytag, the was.h.i.+ng machine heir, better known as founder of Anchor Steam beer and Maytag Blue cheese. Graff's office, at 655 Sutter Street in San Francisco, was the provisional headquarters of AIWF. "d.i.c.k is an extraordinary man, a Renaissance man. He travels extensively and has many interests and is a great winegrower. He is responsible for most things in writing from the AIWF," said future chair of the board of the AIWF Dorothy Cann Hamilton.

By November of that year he began publis.h.i.+ng a monthly newsletter, a folded paper of four pages, written by Jackie Mallorca (collaborator for Beard's columns). In the first issue he announced that $50,000 in seed money had been raised by the ten founding members: Child, Graff, Mondavi, McCarty, Tower, Fritz Maytag, Joseph Phelps, D. Crosby Ross, Richard and Thekla Sanford, Audrey and Barry Sterling.

A group of the founding members dined together with Julia on January 15, 1983, planning for a giant fund-raising dinner in San Francisco for May of that year. Julia said she would be in the middle of filming a new television series for Russ Morash at that time, but she would be there without fail. It was imperative they have a home and pay for the book collection.

Santa Barbara organized the first local chapter of the organization and asked Mary Dorra, the wife of Professor Henry Dorra and a good cook and writer, to be on its board. The Childs and Dorras shared Francophilia and occasionally Thanksgivings in the 1980s, says Mary Dorra. "Because my husband is French and prefers the formal style," cooking with Julia "helped loosen things up for me as a hostess. She taught me to relax." One night after Julia experimented with a new way to cook lamb that left it quite raw, the four of them were silently pus.h.i.+ng the lamb around on their plates when Paul said, "I fail to see why with all the cooking that goes on around here we have to eat raw meat!" Julia replied, "Well, that's the way it is sometimes."

Though UCSB would not become the culinary research center they envisioned in the early years of the 1980s, Julia's presence had an impact on the town. "Food before she moved here tended toward fancied-up meat and potatoes," said one local resident. "However, Julia Child occasionally showed up at these places. Overnight, somehow, they learned to cook-at least to cook better." "She's a landmark at Von's market," said a neighbor. There were other international figures who moved to town. In 1984, Page Rense, the editor of Bon Appet.i.t, Architectural Digest Bon Appet.i.t, Architectural Digest, and Geo Geo, bought a house, and Julia was invited to the unveiling of Opus One, the joint venture of Robert Mondavi and Baron Philippe de Rothschild, a frequent visitor to Santa Barbara. But it was chiefly Julia who "revolutionized restaurant eating in Santa Barbara," the neighbor maintains.

Tower, Waters, and Perry were part of a growing food cult in the San Francis...o...b..y area. Perry, who would become a distinguished food writer at the Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times, remembers it started with a group of architecture students from Cambridge, Ma.s.sachusetts, who had cooked their way through Julia's Mastering Mastering books and were now in San Francisco growing their own vegetables and holding bimonthly potlucks. "Two of the best cooks in the group were an architect named Jerry [Tower] and his friend Alice [Waters]." Twenty-five years after Alice opened her Chez Panisse in 1971, Laura Ochoa of the books and were now in San Francisco growing their own vegetables and holding bimonthly potlucks. "Two of the best cooks in the group were an architect named Jerry [Tower] and his friend Alice [Waters]." Twenty-five years after Alice opened her Chez Panisse in 1971, Laura Ochoa of the Los Angeles Times Los Angeles Times would call her "the earth mother of California cuisine," and S. Irene Virbila could name "an entire generation of chefs" who trained with her. Though she was devoted to Elizabeth David's books, and especially to Richard Olney's recipes, she used Julia's books as reference and her life as a model: "She paved the way for Chez Panisse because she was an unpretentious Francophile who taught the generation who became my customers to value good food." would call her "the earth mother of California cuisine," and S. Irene Virbila could name "an entire generation of chefs" who trained with her. Though she was devoted to Elizabeth David's books, and especially to Richard Olney's recipes, she used Julia's books as reference and her life as a model: "She paved the way for Chez Panisse because she was an unpretentious Francophile who taught the generation who became my customers to value good food."

San Francisco's many wealthy families and the vintners of Napa Valley also added to what one food writer called the "social ether" of San Francisco. For Julia, San Francisco was the home of Dorothy and Ivan, Rosie Manell and Gay Bradley Wright, as well as the Stanford Court, run by James Na.s.sikas, where James Beard held cooking cla.s.ses in the 1970s a.s.sisted by Marion Cunningham, his former student. San Francisco was also the location of a serious cooking school, founded in 1977, offering a sixteen-month diploma for professionals: the California Culinary Academy. In his The Official Foodie Handbook The Official Foodie Handbook in 1985, Paul Levy named it one of only two seriously "foodie-approved" schools in the United States, meaning not for home cooking or catering. in 1985, Paul Levy named it one of only two seriously "foodie-approved" schools in the United States, meaning not for home cooking or catering.

Los Angeles was also fertile ground for the AIWF, where co-founder Michael McCarty had his restaurant in Santa Monica. "In the early 1980s, Los Angeles was the most exciting place to eat in America," Ruth Reichl declared in the New York Times New York Times in 1997. Because of her close proximity to Los Angeles, Julia was familiar with the many French-trained chefs at Ma Maison, a restaurant founded by Patrick Terrail, nephew of the owner of Paris's Tour d'Argent. Julia first noticed what she called the "Swiss-German Mafia" among the French chefs in Los Angeles, probably referring to Wolfgang Puck, who left Ma Maison on July 4, 1981 ("my independence day," he calls it). Julia soon visited his Spago restaurant as well as St.-Germain, where the chef was Patrick Healy, grandson of her friend Harriet (who had studied at their Trois Gourmandes school in Paris). Healy had lived at La Pitchoune when he was apprenticing with Roger Verge, and would later open Champagne, which he lost in a divorce from his French-born wife. in 1997. Because of her close proximity to Los Angeles, Julia was familiar with the many French-trained chefs at Ma Maison, a restaurant founded by Patrick Terrail, nephew of the owner of Paris's Tour d'Argent. Julia first noticed what she called the "Swiss-German Mafia" among the French chefs in Los Angeles, probably referring to Wolfgang Puck, who left Ma Maison on July 4, 1981 ("my independence day," he calls it). Julia soon visited his Spago restaurant as well as St.-Germain, where the chef was Patrick Healy, grandson of her friend Harriet (who had studied at their Trois Gourmandes school in Paris). Healy had lived at La Pitchoune when he was apprenticing with Roger Verge, and would later open Champagne, which he lost in a divorce from his French-born wife.

JULIA THE TEACHER.

"We at last have time to give some live cooking cla.s.ses, which are fun to do again," Julia informed Louisette when she moved West. That August, on her sixty-ninth birthday, when her knees were hurting her, she informed Simca that "we survive because we stay active!" Indeed, her work with the AIWF, her support of a growing number of professional food organizations and schools, her charity demonstrations, and her live teaching at cooking schools would characterize this decade of her professional life. She was about the same age as chef Max Bugnard when she had studied with him at the Cordon Bleu.

For a woman with bad knees, Julia stood for too many hours behind the table and stove of many home cooking schools during 1981 and 1982. For each series of cla.s.ses she prepared, sometimes using recipes she could adapt for national magazines or for Good Morning America Good Morning America, she worked in her Santa Barbara kitchen or typed in her office, looking out over the green meadow to the sea. She taught four-day weekend cla.s.ses at the Stillwater Cove Ranch on the Sonoma coast in 1981, at Ma Maison in Los Angeles that December, and the following year in Phoenix and Longview, Texas.

Her most elegant experience was teaching for three years in the week-long "Great Chefs" series for the Mondavi vineyards. It was "the total gastro Rolls-Royce treatment," she wrote to Mary Frances. Designer Billy Cross and chef Michael James (Simca's student) conceived of the series, whose expense Mondavi now a.s.sumed, and everything about the week was first-cla.s.s. In addition to fifteen Mondavi a.s.sistants, Julia had Rosemary Manell, whose pizzas were always the sensation of the Sunday lunch. A friend was visiting to a.s.sist Julia at Ma Maison, and Maggie Mah, a friend of Rosemary Manell and of Marion Cunningham in San Francisco, helped her in Northern California appearances. Julia loved the personal aspect of teaching cla.s.ses and the absence of the time pressure she had on television.

She was a natural teacher. When the sauce curdled while she was talking to the students, she washed off the chicken, put the sauce in the blender and it was fine. "We always have to be ready to wing it. Know what you are doing so you don't get flapped," she declared. Martha Culbertson, who was in the cla.s.s the first time with Julia, remembers Paul having trouble photographing Julia's work. "Julia stopped her demonstration, went to his side, and helped him solve the problem. It made a statement about love and loyalty."

Julia and the Mondavis became fast friends during these weeks in Oakville as a result of the series and their joint effort for AIWF. Julia admired couples who were partners in their work and confided to Simca that the "Mondavis seem happy together." She expressed genuine fondness for Margrit Biever (Mondavi), who was in charge of all cultural events. Biever, in turn, admired Julia's common sense and earthiness: "I can see her planting both feet on the floor in front of the cla.s.s, her hands on the kitchen table, and speaking with total honesty to the students. 'h.e.l.lo,' she would say, 'I hear some of you don't like b.u.t.ter!'" The fair, diminutive Swiss wife of Robert Mondavi saw her tall California friend as both strong and feminine: "She is not maternal, but she could have managed ten children.... Men react to her and she truly interacts with men."

Julia also put her teaching skills to work doing charity demonstrations until the end of 1982. She spent two days in New Haven for a large fund-raising event for Betty Kubler's Longwharf Theater (and would do it twice again in the 1990s), and cooked with her sister Dorothy for one of her and Ivan's annual food fairs for charity in San Rafael (a picture of the two tall sisters in matching ap.r.o.ns was published in People People magazine). But her favorite charity, for which she made three appearances in 1982, was Planned Parenthood. At a dinner for Planned Parenthood husbands at Ma Maison in Los Angeles on February 28, 1982, she sat next to chef Ken Frank (La Toque), who was babysitting his newborn, asleep in a baby harness on his chest. Though two generations separated Ken and Julia, they shared the experience of being born and reared in Pasadena and attending the Polytechnic School. Julia cooed over the Frank baby, wis.h.i.+ng that all babies would be loved. Her next contribution was at a three-day fund-raising cooking cla.s.s for the Planned Parenthood in Memphis, where she was confronted by demonstrators who picketed her every day. Upset, Julia wrote to syndicated columnist Dear Abby, who promptly published Julia's letter, part of which says: "What are your plans [she asked the picketers] for these children once they are born? Are you going to help provide, for instance, for the child of a r.e.t.a.r.ded 13-year-old daughter of a syphilitic prost.i.tute? ... If you insist on their birth, you must also a.s.sume responsibility for their lives." magazine). But her favorite charity, for which she made three appearances in 1982, was Planned Parenthood. At a dinner for Planned Parenthood husbands at Ma Maison in Los Angeles on February 28, 1982, she sat next to chef Ken Frank (La Toque), who was babysitting his newborn, asleep in a baby harness on his chest. Though two generations separated Ken and Julia, they shared the experience of being born and reared in Pasadena and attending the Polytechnic School. Julia cooed over the Frank baby, wis.h.i.+ng that all babies would be loved. Her next contribution was at a three-day fund-raising cooking cla.s.s for the Planned Parenthood in Memphis, where she was confronted by demonstrators who picketed her every day. Upset, Julia wrote to syndicated columnist Dear Abby, who promptly published Julia's letter, part of which says: "What are your plans [she asked the picketers] for these children once they are born? Are you going to help provide, for instance, for the child of a r.e.t.a.r.ded 13-year-old daughter of a syphilitic prost.i.tute? ... If you insist on their birth, you must also a.s.sume responsibility for their lives."

By the time she completed a three-day cooking demonstration to benefit St. Mark's Cathedral in Seattle, she declared she would do no more charity demonstrations. She had no time, because the filming Russ Morash was planning to begin in 1983 was rapidly approaching. Morash, who had filmed This Old House This Old House and and Victory Garden Victory Garden series since his last series since his last French Chef French Chef series, was making grand preparations for an entirely new series for Julia. series, was making grand preparations for an entirely new series for Julia.

Julia left McCall's McCall's for for Parade Parade magazine in 1982 because she could reach a larger audience with her teaching skills. She was also paid a great deal more. She had contributed a monthly column to magazine in 1982 because she could reach a larger audience with her teaching skills. She was also paid a great deal more. She had contributed a monthly column to McCall's McCall's for five years and was ready for a change and a promotion. for five years and was ready for a change and a promotion. Parade Parade, distributed in Sunday newspapers to millions of readers, named her food editor. She was required to prepare one article each month, ent.i.tled "From Julia Child's Kitchen," with recipes for a full meal. And she could keep the photography rights for any future book. She could plan, test, and write these installments in Cambridge or Santa Barbara, with the dishes photographed on either coast. A friend came West in December 1982 to help her prepare the food for the photographs in the first issue. Later Julia hired Barbara Sims-Bell, owner of the Santa Barbara Cooking School, to help her cook for Parade Parade. In a couple of years Julia would refer to their "Beverly Wils.h.i.+re [Hotel] home" because of the frequent filming for Parade Parade or taping for or taping for Good Morning America Good Morning America in the Burbank studios. in the Burbank studios.

"How to Cook for 40,000,000 by Julia Child," the full-page advertis.e.m.e.nts shouted. Standing in front of her wall-mounted pans, a big smile on her face and her hand holding a green-and-red pepper for color, America's favorite home cook appeared on the cover of her first issue, February 28, 1982. Parade Parade editor Walter Anderson said he had a phenomenal response to her appearance, especially from men. This issue also presented her personal side with an article about her marriage to Paul. Each issue had several sections, each broken up with bold headings and ill.u.s.trated by color photographs: how to cut up a chicken, saute a chicken, make three variations on sauteed chicken (with potatoes and onions, with cream and mushrooms, with peppers, onions, and garlic), make a good pot of coffee, and "the greatest apple tart." Finally, there appeared a small box telling a personal tale about cleaning an "evil-smelling refrigerator." Mary Frances was one of the forty million: "I always find something very good and very editor Walter Anderson said he had a phenomenal response to her appearance, especially from men. This issue also presented her personal side with an article about her marriage to Paul. Each issue had several sections, each broken up with bold headings and ill.u.s.trated by color photographs: how to cut up a chicken, saute a chicken, make three variations on sauteed chicken (with potatoes and onions, with cream and mushrooms, with peppers, onions, and garlic), make a good pot of coffee, and "the greatest apple tart." Finally, there appeared a small box telling a personal tale about cleaning an "evil-smelling refrigerator." Mary Frances was one of the forty million: "I always find something very good and very Julia," Julia," she wrote her D*E*A*R*F*R*I*E*N*D (as she always addressed her letters). she wrote her D*E*A*R*F*R*I*E*N*D (as she always addressed her letters).

She managed her obligations to both Good Morning America Good Morning America and and Parade Parade as well as the numerous other endeavors through teamwork. Whether Pat Pratt or Marian Morash was visiting, or cooking friends were over for Thanksgiving, or she and Rosemary were demonstrating together, she was talking over ideas for recipes. "One gets so many ideas working as a team," she declared. By 1985, she was filming four segments of her as well as the numerous other endeavors through teamwork. Whether Pat Pratt or Marian Morash was visiting, or cooking friends were over for Thanksgiving, or she and Rosemary were demonstrating together, she was talking over ideas for recipes. "One gets so many ideas working as a team," she declared. By 1985, she was filming four segments of her Good Morning America Good Morning America spots in one day. She also found that she could plan four issues of spots in one day. She also found that she could plan four issues of Parade Parade at once and later film them together. Every four-month cycle taught her something that she pa.s.sed on to Simca. During their cooking and filming two years later, Julia discovered that new flour with pota.s.sium bromate strengthened the gluten and made better bread than she ever made before. And when she noticed that Jacques Pepin would recycle a new recipe three times (in teaching, in a magazine, and in demonstrations), she decided she did not need entirely new recipes every time she prepared her at once and later film them together. Every four-month cycle taught her something that she pa.s.sed on to Simca. During their cooking and filming two years later, Julia discovered that new flour with pota.s.sium bromate strengthened the gluten and made better bread than she ever made before. And when she noticed that Jacques Pepin would recycle a new recipe three times (in teaching, in a magazine, and in demonstrations), she decided she did not need entirely new recipes every time she prepared her Parade Parade articles. articles.

When Julia returned to France from late June through late September 1982, she had already planned, tested, and written eleven shows for Good Morning America Good Morning America and completed a list (with Rosemary) of the upcoming and completed a list (with Rosemary) of the upcoming Parade Parade issues. As this was their first trip to France in two years, they stopped at the Pont Royal Hotel in Paris, where Julia wrote a nostalgic letter to Dort about the St.-Germain-des-Pres area. In Beaune they enjoyed a weekend of Burgundy wine and grand dining. Accompanying them from Cambridge in June and again in September were the Pratts. Pat worked well with Julia in testing recipes at La Pitchoune. Julia also discovered the fiction of Edith Wharton, she wrote Jim Beard. While reading R. W. B. Lewis's new biography of Wharton, Julia connected with Wharton's descriptions of Paris and Wharton's years in Lenox, Ma.s.sachusetts, near her mother's hometowns of Pittsfield and Dalton. issues. As this was their first trip to France in two years, they stopped at the Pont Royal Hotel in Paris, where Julia wrote a nostalgic letter to Dort about the St.-Germain-des-Pres area. In Beaune they enjoyed a weekend of Burgundy wine and grand dining. Accompanying them from Cambridge in June and again in September were the Pratts. Pat worked well with Julia in testing recipes at La Pitchoune. Julia also discovered the fiction of Edith Wharton, she wrote Jim Beard. While reading R. W. B. Lewis's new biography of Wharton, Julia connected with Wharton's descriptions of Paris and Wharton's years in Lenox, Ma.s.sachusetts, near her mother's hometowns of Pittsfield and Dalton.

After Sara Moulton had to leave La Pitchoune, Susy Davidson came to visit. Susy worked for Trois Gourmandes Productions as a.s.sociate Chef on Good Morning America Good Morning America and at other demonstrations in 1981 and 1982. She was a tall, twenty-nine-year-old Oregon native with lovely dark hair and a first diploma from La Varenne. She had worked a year and a half with Simca to earn her final diploma, and both Julia and Simca thought she was "a dear girl." Susy says, "Julia sets the pace. As far as I'm concerned, she is the professional by whom all other professionals are judged." Also visiting briefly to show off his future bride was Steven Raichlen, who had finished his degree from La Varenne and would become its representative in the United States. It was during that summer that Susy and Julia discussed the number of h.o.m.os.e.xuals who seemed to dominate the food organizations, a discussion Julia put into writing to Anne Willan, which would come back to haunt her in years to come. Julia would always maintain that the comments were not personal; her only concern was that the culinary profession have more heteros.e.xual men in its ranks. and at other demonstrations in 1981 and 1982. She was a tall, twenty-nine-year-old Oregon native with lovely dark hair and a first diploma from La Varenne. She had worked a year and a half with Simca to earn her final diploma, and both Julia and Simca thought she was "a dear girl." Susy says, "Julia sets the pace. As far as I'm concerned, she is the professional by whom all other professionals are judged." Also visiting briefly to show off his future bride was Steven Raichlen, who had finished his degree from La Varenne and would become its representative in the United States. It was during that summer that Susy and Julia discussed the number of h.o.m.os.e.xuals who seemed to dominate the food organizations, a discussion Julia put into writing to Anne Willan, which would come back to haunt her in years to come. Julia would always maintain that the comments were not personal; her only concern was that the culinary profession have more heteros.e.xual men in its ranks.

Julia, who enjoyed saying, "I love being bicoastal," was really tricoastal. When she and Paul left the Provencal coast, they drove to Joigny (where Willan and Cherniavsky had bought a chateau nearby in Villecien), then to Paris and the flight to Boston. After a late McWilliams family celebration of her seventieth birthday (August 15, 1982) in New Hamps.h.i.+re, Julia was honored by a birthday dinner offered her in New York by Peter k.u.mp (all her cooking friends sent letters). She then embarked on a final burst of cooking school demonstrations before preparing for a new television show to be co-produced by WGBH and her renamed corporation, Julia Child Productions, from which she drew a "salary" (for tax purposes).

DINNER AT JULIA'S On the twentieth anniversary of their first work together, Russ Morash planned to film a video magazine series for Julia, beginning the filming in Santa Barbara. Julia had often told reporters after each series that she wanted to go on the road to where food was grown. Now American Express agreed to pay for the flights. As executive producer, Morash raised nearly a million dollars from Polaroid for a limited series of thirteen shows featuring segments of Julia gathering food, cooking, and then hosting a dinner party in Santa Barbara. Each program would have an accomplished chef prepare one dish in a three-minute appearance. Most significantly for Julia, they would take a week to film each program, there would be no book to accompany the series (though she would have the dishes and techniques photographed for a later book project), and she had a full-time makeup and wardrobe person.

After a brief trip north to visit Alice Waters at Chez Panisse and meet with the Mondavis about the AIWF, Julia devoted the first five months of 1983 to filming at the rented mansion at Hope Ranch, the twenty-five-acre ranch on the California coast thirty minutes from her Seaview home. The Morash family lived in the Hope Ranch home where work, filming, and dinners were held. Marian and Rosemary served as Julia's Executive Chefs.

They began by flying to Seattle to tape segments for four shows, showing Julia salmon fis.h.i.+ng on Puget Sound, sampling rich chocolate at the Filettante, visiting the Port Chatham smoking-salmon works in Ballard, and going on a crab boat trip at dawn. Sitting impatiently in the rented van outside Seattle, Julia waited for Debbie Wait to apply a thin coat of makeup before it was time to board the Destiny Destiny, a forty-six-foot Kodiak salmon boat. Puget Sound was windy and cold, and Julia was wrapped in a bright yellow waterproof jacket and pants. The waters were gray and choppy as Ken Thibert, the skipper, who had never seen Julia on television, guided the boat toward the crab pots. She was excited by the action and climbed up and down the boat's ladders, bombarding the experts with questions: "How was the crab season this year?" ("Lousy.") "What kind of bait will we use?" ("Geoduck stomachs.") She was still going strong when Morash had the tape he needed and the boat headed back. Later that day, Julia made another appearance, followed by a wine reception before returning to film the next morning in Santa Barbara.

Because the series emphasized fresh American regional produce, she would also visit (with Paul) an artichoke field, a chicken farm, a date farm in Indio, and the Firestone Vineyard in Los Olivos. When there were too few chanterelles in the mountains above Santa Barbara, they "planted" them. Like a modern-day Dr. Livingstone, says one reporter, Julia approached in pith helmet, stout stick, wet weather gear, and New Balance shoes, "slogging through viscous mud that bogged down her party's four-wheel-drive Bronco" (noted a visiting Time Time reporter), to gather a basketful of the yellow precious (and planted) chanterelles. reporter), to gather a basketful of the yellow precious (and planted) chanterelles.

Visiting wine experts talked about the vintage to be served with each course (the marriage of wine and food) and a guest chef prepared a dish: Rene Verdon of San Francisco's Le Trianon (White House souffle with zucchini), Louis Evans of New Orleans's Pontchartrain Hotel (crayfish bisque), Jean-Pierre Goyenvalle from Was.h.i.+ngton, DC, and Wolfgang Puck from West Hollywood's Spago. Puck remembers arriving at the mansion early one morning slightly hungover after a late-night party. "Julia greeted me on the step and gave me a big hug, which planted my face somewhere in her chest region." Austrian-born Puck came to make Santa Barbara shrimp in mustard/b.u.t.ter sauce.

The main dishes were prepared by Julia and her crew, though only a part of the actual preparation was shown because this was not a how-to program. The main courses included a chicken dish called Winged Victory (a version of which she later used in Parade) Parade), Santa Barbara bouillabaisse, whole salmon steamed in white wine, roast deviled rabbit, and braised sweetbreads in puff sh.e.l.ls. Morash filmed Julia and these dishes with a single handheld camera, and also filmed small segments featuring techniques, both for the program and for later use in a video series he was pitching called The Way to Cook The Way to Cook. (She also told reporters she would be doing a book by this t.i.tle.) He did not have Julia's words fully scripted, except for opening and closing lines, for he believed she did best with spontaneity (indeed, even on the Good Morning America Good Morning America segments, after a couple of practice beginnings, she was best with partially improvised narrative). After all these segments were shot and the food ready, the show ended with a c.o.c.ktail party and dinner for ten people, including hosts Julia and Paul. Sometimes when friends or journalists were b.u.mped for more important guests, they joined the c.o.c.ktail party scene and ate dinner off-camera. Her sister Dorothy can be seen at the table in her first segment, "The Salmon Dinner," and her editor Judith Jones attended "The Turkey Dinner." One of her honored guests was James Beard, who had to remain seated. She was worried about her "Dear Jim," who, in and out of hospitals, did not look well. segments, after a couple of practice beginnings, she was best with partially improvised narrative). After all these segments were shot and the food ready, the show ended with a c.o.c.ktail party and dinner for ten people, including hosts Julia and Paul. Sometimes when friends or journalists were b.u.mped for more important guests, they joined the c.o.c.ktail party scene and ate dinner off-camera. Her sister Dorothy can be seen at the table in her first segment, "The Salmon Dinner," and her editor Judith Jones attended "The Turkey Dinner." One of her honored guests was James Beard, who had to remain seated. She was worried about her "Dear Jim," who, in and out of hospitals, did not look well.

On February 8, 1983, just when the film crew of Parade Parade magazine left and Morash was beginning the shoot another magazine left and Morash was beginning the shoot another Dinner at Julia's Dinner at Julia's segments, Julia and Paul received the news that Charlie Child died suddenly at Pennswood, his retirement home. He and Paul had recently celebrated their birthdays: "He and I had eighty-one years of understanding, of fun, of mutual learning, of creativity together, and admiration, not to mention, especially, letters from each other when we were apart during the war years. I find that I am still, unconsciously, storing up in my mind things to write [to him] about.... We were truly parts of each other," Paul wrote their longtime friend f.a.n.n.y Brennan. segments, Julia and Paul received the news that Charlie Child died suddenly at Pennswood, his retirement home. He and Paul had recently celebrated their birthdays: "He and I had eighty-one years of understanding, of fun, of mutual learning, of creativity together, and admiration, not to mention, especially, letters from each other when we were apart during the war years. I find that I am still, unconsciously, storing up in my mind things to write [to him] about.... We were truly parts of each other," Paul wrote their longtime friend f.a.n.n.y Brennan.

Julia and Paul shared their grief in quiet private moments amid the frenetic activity of dozens of people filming; Paul, the introspective twin, was especially grieved: "I suffer because of Chas' death," he wrote in his datebook. Julia, typically matter-of-fact about death, threw herself into immediate tasks and looked ahead. For the Child children and grandchildren, Julia and Paul were all that remained of that generation. Charlie's body was cremated and waited until the family gathered that August at Lopaus Point, Maine, where during a week together to memorialize him, they sprinkled his ashes along the coastal walks he loved so well and described in his memoir Roots in the Rock Roots in the Rock.

The glamorous Dinner at Julia's Dinner at Julia's began airing on PBS on October 14 of that year (it was rerun the last three months of 1984 as well). In the first program, when the limousines pulled up to the mansion and Julia appeared in heavy makeup and dark curly hair (one reporter called it an "Afro"), some of her friends were dismayed. Ruth Lockwood was sorry about the change of Julia's image, feeling almost "betrayed." Most food colleagues and longtime friends enjoyed the segments of fis.h.i.+ng, mushroom picking, and date harvesting, but thought the series was "too elite, very non-Julia to be driving up in a Mercedes or Rolls-Royce." A family member blamed Bob Johnson for pus.h.i.+ng her into a "publicity stunt" series. began airing on PBS on October 14 of that year (it was rerun the last three months of 1984 as well). In the first program, when the limousines pulled up to the mansion and Julia appeared in heavy makeup and dark curly hair (one reporter called it an "Afro"), some of her friends were dismayed. Ruth Lockwood was sorry about the change of Julia's image, feeling almost "betrayed." Most food colleagues and longtime friends enjoyed the segments of fis.h.i.+ng, mushroom picking, and date harvesting, but thought the series was "too elite, very non-Julia to be driving up in a Mercedes or Rolls-Royce." A family member blamed Bob Johnson for pus.h.i.+ng her into a "publicity stunt" series.

Reviewers were more positive, emphasizing the celebration of regional produce ("the French Chef has come home"), the slick new format, and the variety of segments crammed into each thirty-minute program. The variety drew some criticism for fragmenting the program, but most reviews were puff pieces, such as United United magazine's "Shows her at her bubbly, chirrupy best." magazine's "Shows her at her bubbly, chirrupy best." Time's Time's only swipe was at the wardrobe person who dressed her "in a wardrobe worthy of Auntie Mame." The only swipe was at the wardrobe person who dressed her "in a wardrobe worthy of Auntie Mame." The New York Times's New York Times's John J. O'Connor wrote that the attempt to "convey a sense of elegance" resulted "too often" in a "silly and distracting" program which appeared to display a "cavalier att.i.tude toward cost." (The John J. O'Connor wrote that the attempt to "convey a sense of elegance" resulted "too often" in a "silly and distracting" program which appeared to display a "cavalier att.i.tude toward cost." (The Was.h.i.+ngton Post Was.h.i.+ngton Post detailed the expenses, noting that the food alone "cost $1,000 a week.") O'Connor liked Julia's enthusiasm and the final barbecue segment, but not the full bottle of vermouth on the whole salmon and the Rolls-Royce pulling up to the door with a piano rendition of "These Foolish Things" playing in the background. detailed the expenses, noting that the food alone "cost $1,000 a week.") O'Connor liked Julia's enthusiasm and the final barbecue segment, but not the full bottle of vermouth on the whole salmon and the Rolls-Royce pulling up to the door with a piano rendition of "These Foolish Things" playing in the background.

Despite the negative notes, Julia enjoyed the communal experience in the mansion, with everyone working on the project, including students from Santa Barbara City College Hotel and Restaurant School who a.s.sisted in the preparation of the food. The final segment was a barbecue with mariachi band and Julia in Western garb, while overhead the helicopters churned-not for her filming or a nearby forest fire, but for President Reagan's arrival to and departure from Rancho del Cielo.

Julia toured for the new series to Was.h.i.+ngton, DC, and elsewhere, always working to organize chapters of the AIWF wherever she went. She and Paul, who continued to be depressed about losing his brother, returned to Santa Barbara to spend the first five months of 1984 by the sea.

"AMERICAN CELEBRATION"

Fresh oysters from Puget Sound, Tomales Bay, and Vancouver Island opened the eleven-course feast at the Stanford Court in San Francisco on May 4, 1983. Many predicted that the eleven chefs would not be able to work in the same kitchen to prepare the eleven specialties for the meal, but Michael McCarty of Michael's in Santa Monica, who arranged the dinner, and Mark Peel, a chef at Spago, disagreed. The chefs had a ball.

The "American Celebration" feast fed 372 patrons, most of whom paid $250. It was called "the dawning of a new age for American cuisine," by one well-fed journalist. Julia, who was in the kitchen until moments before the dinner began, called it "an amazing event." One newspaper announced: "A Summit of U.S. Cuisine." Another: "extravaganza." The "American Celebration" was a fund-raiser for the American Inst.i.tute of Wine and Food. (Three months later 700 people showed up-300 had to be turned away-at an AIWF fund-raising garden party on the grounds of the Hope Ranch.) But it was the San Francisco "Celebration" that both inaugurated an era of high living for the AIWF and was emblematic of a new decade in American cuisine: American chefs were emphasizing ingredients over technical skills.

When Jimmy Schmidt (Detroit) was preparing his stuffing of wild root vegetables, fiddlehead fern, and hazelnuts from Michigan, Larry Forgione (River Cafe in Brooklyn) and Bradley Ogden (Kansas City) rolled up their sleeves and helped him chop and slice. When Paul Prudhomme's blackened redfish was ready to be prepared, Jonathan Waxman (Michael's in Santa Monica), Wolfgang Puck, and Mark Miller joined in the last-minute cooking. When Jeremiah Tower was ready to put the chocolate and sabayon sauce on his pecan pastry, Alice Waters and Barbara Kafka (New York City) joined the a.s.sembly line. Each course was accompanied by a different wine, with Mondavi's 1974 Private Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon served with the American cheese selection (California chevre, Iowa Maytag Blue, and a New York Camembert). By midnight, everyone joined the "After Hours Party" for the final courses: Mark Peel's "Spago's pizza" (served with Domaine Chandon Blanc de Noir) and Barbara Kafka's tripe gumbo (served with Christian Brothers Private Reserve Centennial Sherry). All the wines were Californian. And all the chefs were known for his or her quest for a distinctive American cuisine. Several had cooked at Chez Panisse or Ma Maison, and all, Alice Waters admitted to a reporter, were "from the controversial end" of the American spectrum. Indeed, only Puck and Ogden were guests on Dinner at Julia's Dinner at Julia's (being filmed at that time), suggesting the traditional nature of (being filmed at that time), suggesting the traditional nature of her her guest chef list. guest chef list.

Upscale restaurant dining would boom in the Reagan years of the 1980s, and the chef became a new hero during that so-called decadent decade. In a panel discussion during this three-day event in San Francisco, William Rice, the editor of American Express's Food & Wine Food & Wine (and a sponsor), said restaurants will play "an important part" in American culture and "chefs are taking their natural role as leaders." Significantly, at the "American Celebration" there were no live speeches, just four giant television sets showing the preparations in the kitchen. "Chefs are on a par with artists and musicians," Julia confided to a journalist at her table. (and a sponsor), said restaurants will play "an important part" in American culture and "chefs are taking their natural role as leaders." Significantly, at the "American Celebration" there were no live speeches, just four giant television sets showing the preparations in the kitchen. "Chefs are on a par with artists and musicians," Julia confided to a journalist at her table.

Mimi Sheraton (who ate at home only five times the previous year) later called the 1980s a period of affluence, generous news coverage of restaurants, celebrity chefs, and dining out. "Julia criticized me directly and obliquely for being a bad influence on restaurants," says Sheraton, "because I terrified chefs by having such negative reviews." Yet it was the reviewers who stirred the pot. And, as the press and panel discussions noted, diners were getting more discriminating. "The revolution in food began in 1963," the food authorities agreed, "when Julia Child went on television and alerted Americans to the pleasures of gastronomy."

If chefs are known for cooperation-as ill.u.s.trated in the San Francisco "Celebration"-the food writers were territorial and compet.i.tive, as evidenced in a scandal that rocked the food world in 1983. The story, which broke on December 7, Robert Clark calls "a kind of Pearl Harbor for the food community." In February, Richard Olney sued Richard Nelson (Richard Nelson's American Cooking) (Richard Nelson's American Cooking) for copyright infringement and punitive damages, asking $1,050,000. Nelson was a past president of the International a.s.sociation of Cooking Schools, based in Was.h.i.+ngton, DC, and strongly supported at its founding by Julia Child; he was also on the advisory board of AIWF (and a cooking school founder and food columnist for the for copyright infringement and punitive damages, asking $1,050,000. Nelson was a past president of the International a.s.sociation of Cooking Schools, based in Was.h.i.+ngton, DC, and strongly supported at its founding by Julia Child; he was also on the advisory board of AIWF (and a cooking school founder and food columnist for the Portland Oregonian) Portland Oregonian). Because a recipe is a formula, Julia always believed they could not be copyrighted, though she tried to give credit for any original recipe inspiring her own variation. According to Ann Barr and Paul Levy: "Julia Child is ... generous [about her recipes], and was the first to telephone Nelson to give him her support." She told Simca a decade before that she felt "the recipe business is about hopeless." Through the years they both recognized their own work in Gourmet Gourmet and other places: "I agree with someone who said that the recipe is only the score (for the music), and that each virtuoso interprets it as he sees fit, and according to his own personality.... After all, at the Cordon Bleu there were no recipes provided at all, which made it easier." and other places: "I agree with someone who said that the recipe is only the score (for the music), and that each virtuoso interprets it as he sees fit, and according to his own personality.... After all, at the Cordon Bleu there were no recipes provided at all, which made it easier."

Nelson allegedly "stole" at least fifty-six recipes, some from Julia, without creative variation in ingredients or language. He took thirty-nine recipes from Olney's Simple French Food Simple French Food (1974), including every turn of phrase and personal narrative introduction. The fault, Olney soon learned, was that the recipes he sent to Beard, who was going to write the introduction to Olney's book, were xeroxed and circulated in cooking cla.s.ses Beard and Nelson taught in Portland. "Nelson thought he was stealing from Beard," Olney concluded. Nelson did not give any indication that he understood what the fuss was about, but he paid out of court an undisclosed amount that August. Beard, who had perhaps misjudged Olney's originality, felt betrayed by Nelson and humiliated. Olney never spoke to Beard again. (1974), including every turn of phrase and personal narrative introduction. The fault, Olney soon learned, was that the recipes he sent to Beard, who was going to write the introduction to Olney's book, were xeroxed and circulated in cooking cla.s.ses Beard and Nelson taught in Portland. "Nelson thought he was stealing from Beard," Olney concluded. Nelson did not give any indication that he understood what the fuss was about, but he paid out of court an undisclosed amount that August. Beard, who had perhaps misjudged Olney's originality, felt betrayed by Nelson and humiliated. Olney never spoke to Beard again.

The AIWF board searched for an executive director for more than two years until d.i.c.k Graff finally found the man to lead the organization. Julia agreed with Graff's selection of George Trescher, who, she said, "made a great hit with everyone." Though born in California, Trescher had made his career on the East Coast, working for Time-Life and fund-raising for the New York Public Library and the Museum of Science. He had just the right "East Coast credentials," Julia explained to Simca, because "the East Coast knows nothing at all about us out here ... it is like starting something in Lyons-how do you get the Parisians to take it seriously? We like Trescher very much indeed-think he will finally get the Inst.i.tute on its feet and going." Trescher, later called "Party Chairman ... one of the people who make New York tick," moved to San Francisco for a reported income of six figures. Julia, Mondavi, and the millionaire founders believed that to get the organization on its feet, they had to buy the best talent. Child and Mondavi, who co-sponsored the fund-raising feast in San Francisco the year before, emerged as t.i.tular leaders of the AIWF (Graff preferred to stay out of the limelight). Under Trescher, the AIWF was characterized by its rapid growth and grand national conventions, beginning with the first, in Santa Barbara in 1985. When they announced a goal of raising $2 million in nine months, Paul Levy responded from London: "Two million dollars! That cake certainly rose."

Julia was invited by the Reagans to attend the state dinner for French President Francois Mitterrand in the spring of 1984. She hated the food, right down to the purple sorbet with canned peaches. When she sent her thank-you note to the Reagans on April 14, she talked about the progress of the gastronomic arts in the country and the goals of the AIWF, and added: "A number of us in the cooking profession have wondered [given the existence of an advisory committee on the decoration of the White House] if it might also be possible to have a panel on food served at official dinners." Though her family and friends knew her dislike for the Reagans' politics, this appeal to improve state dinners was a long-standing concern without a political basis. Indeed, earlier that year the Was.h.i.+ngton Post Was.h.i.+ngton Post declared, "Julia Child is about the only hero left. She ... as far as we know has never had a political thought." declared, "Julia Child is about the only hero left. She ... as far as we know has never had a political thought."

At the peak of her career, Julia was never so aware of her own mortality. Even while she kept up a professional pace commensurate with her energy (taping Parade Parade segments in Cambridge, attending the a.s.sociation of Cooking Schools conference in Paris), she was reminded of her age. Paul was still haunted by the loss of Charlie. Her seventy-year-old brother had been hit by a car and was slowly recovering. Brother-in-law Ivan Cousins had a prostate operation and radiation. Most distressing was the gradual decline of Paul, who fell asleep at meals, even after she gave him a poke. Then what she had been fearing for several years happened: James Beard was taken to the hospital with only one functioning kidney and a very weak