Julia Child--In Memoriam

[Squeat Mungry]

Wow. I grew up watching and reading Julia and though I never met her, I feel like I have known her all my life. I will really miss her, but feel lucky to have been around while she was doing so much good work.

I'll toast her memory tonight, as well.

RIP

Squeat

[croaker69]

Story on Washington Post site

[oystergal]

I'm truly saddened by today's news. But it's a good time to remember all she did in her amazing life.

Aside from everything she did for the culinary trade, to me her life serves a reminder that it's never too late to do something you love and to keep your mind open to new things.

Bon appetit!

[Jinmyo]

No one can ever again do what she did as she did it: With grace and brass and skill and humour she brought about a revolution.

[KatieLoeb]

I met Julia Child during the IACP Conference in Philadelphia in 1996. I worked for the company that was providing the catering for a dinner in her honor. She went out of her way to greet everyone and was gracious to every single server.

Her generosity of spirit and cheerful demeanor was evident in everything she did. I can't think of anyone with as much influence in bringing joy in cooking and eating to every American household as she. She will be sorely missed.

May Julia rest peacefully. God bless.

[Coop]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3694953/?GT1=4529

[Lady T]

For those of us who love food, today is a day of mourning.

Might I suggest that tonight when eating dinner we all raise a glass of wine to her memory.

That I will do.

Paraphrased from a song that runs through my head now and then:

When the hour is darkest

Just before the dawn...

Somewhere up in heaven

There's a party goin' on!

Just imagine what kind of a bash she and James Beard and Escoffier and all the other masters of the art are throwing, now and forever...

Edited August 13, 2004 by Lady T (log)

[rich]

May she rest in peace. Truly an American icon, and one of the world's culinary treausres.

I will miss you, Julia - there was none better.

I think I'll celebrate her life by cooking some of her recipes this weekend and serving some sparkling wine and champagne.

[col klink]

Here's a link to the AP story:

TV cooking show host Julia Child dies.

*Sniff* *Sniff*

[Hest88]

I'm just heartbroken. Part of me thought she'd live forever.

[NeroW]

Julia Child was the first person who inspired me to cook, which changed my life.

She was also my first culinary instructor.

[srhcb]

In honor of what would have been her birthday, how about preparing an "All Julia" dinner for family and friends?

SB (with lots of butter!)

[sequim]

I have to get off this damn blog as my eyes are getting red, sitting here in my cubicle at work.

I don't know there was something about her, just unforgettable. I wanted her to go to 100... or to be forever young.

[Artichoke]

As a child I was enraptured by her television show and the very first things I cooked were the foods I watched her make.

It should certainly be celebrated that she lived such a full and long life, yet her passing still saddens me deeply. It without exageration when I say that she had a very definite and positive influence on my life.

I bow my head in respect and mourn her passing, she will always remain a blessed memory to me. May G-D bless her soul and comfort her family.

Some of my favorite Julia quotes:

- I was 32 when I started cooking; up until then, I just ate.

- Life itself is the proper binge.

- Noncooks think it's silly to invest two hours' work in two minutes' enjoyment; but if cooking is evanescent, so is the ballet.

[KatieLoeb]

James Lipton always asks his guests on Inside the Actor's Studio what they want to hear when they arrive at the Pearly Gates.

I think today it will be, "Your table is ready Julia. We're honored to have you..."

[Ralph Wiggum]

A sad day for all. I will be lifting a glass to two in her honor tonite as well as breaking out my VHS copy of the old Saturday Night Live Julia Child sketch.

[bilrus]

Just this morning on Good Morning America, where she did segments for years, Emeril was doing his segment and wished her a Happy Birthday and they showed a little montage of clips of hers over the years.

My wife mentioned that she didn't realize that she was in her nineties, because she is burned in our memories from years of shows from ten, twenty or more years ago.

Edited August 13, 2004 by bilrus (log)

[balmagowry]

Part of me thought she'd live forever.

I was thinking the same thing, and you know what? She will. She is too permanent and marvelous to stop living forever, just because of a stupid little thing like death getting in the way.

Some people are like that: being dead is just... totally out of character for them. She's still here.

"Sometimes it's fish, and sometimes it's chocolate." Blessings on her. I'm so glad she went out easy.

EDIT because Lala is right and is more appropriate.

Edited August 13, 2004 by balmagowry (log)

[chezcherie]

I will be spending my bday (aug. 14th) and julia's (aug.15th) on the beach near Santa Barbara. I will join many of you in raising a glass to her vibrant spirit and extraordinarily generous nature. She inspired me to go to culinary school at 40, as she hadn't begun to cook until later in life.

My avatar brings a warm Julia memory: I met her several times, and once I took her some just-laid eggs. She was at least 90 at the time, and a bit frail from back sugery, but she peered with great interest into the container in which they rested, and said, in her inimitable, plummy voice,"Oh, they're just looooovely. That was sooooo thoughtful of you. Thank you so much!"

My fondest wish is that she had them, gently coddled, for her lunch.

R.I.P, Julia. Dine well wherever you are. And, as always, bon appetit!

[jgarner53]

I never met the woman, but I'm sitting here at work in tears.

A few months ago, I had the good fortune to take a cake decorating class taught by Stephanie Hirsch, Julia's personal assistant for the past 16 years. I asked her what the most important thing she had learned from working with Julia was.

She replied that Julia didn't get flustered, didn't let things bother her (in other words, don't sweat the small stuff). That she always approached things with humor and joy.

If that's all any of us learn from her, and so many of us learned much, much more, then we are all enriched.

G-d bless you, Julia. Thank you for everything.

I lift my glass and a stick of butter to you.

[cigalechanta]

Julia Childs taught Americans to appreciate French food.

[Gifted Gourmet]

She is too permanent and marvelous to stop living forever, just because of a stupid little thing like death getting in the way.

Blessings on her. I'm so glad she went out easy.

Someone, wiser than I said, "A good life and an easy death to you."

So it appears that these came to Julia Child, whose legacy remains indelible in both the videos we watch of her and the books in which her passions shine through her words ...

Yes, passion is what made her who she was .. may we all inherit just a few precious ounces of her passion to sweeten our lives today ...

She would have nothing less.

[markabauman]

Julia Child AP report:

With gratitude for all her inspiration. May she rest in peace. Bon Appetit/Happy Cooking in culinary heaven

[StudentChefEclipse]

Most of my friends are not culinarians, and some of them don't even cook at home... but they are all in tears at this loss.

[bloviatrix]

NY Times Obit