Part 20 (1/2)

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

BONFIRE OF THE VAINGLORIOUS.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

COOKING WITH JULIA.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

HARVARD'S ”VERITAS”

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

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

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

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

Chapter 27.

DO N NOT G GO G GENTLE.

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

JULIA CHILD, 1991.

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

GOODBYE.

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

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

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

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

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