Interviewing Julia Child

August 2009

With all the recent hoopla about the new Julie & Julia movie, I've been reliving my brush with the great Julia Child, 19 years ago.

In 1990, I was Editorial Assistant at Oceanus magazine, a marine science and policy magazine published by the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution. At a staff meeting we were hashing out ideas on how to make our upcoming issue on the Mediterranean more appealing to a general audience. Julia Child had just published her magnum opus, The Way to Cook. What if one of us interviewed her about her time in France, interwove the story with some marine science issues, and threw in a seafood recipe from the new book? Bingo! As a long-time fan of Julia, and an obsessive foodie, I raised my hand Welcome Back Kotter-style and exclaimed "Pick me. Pick me!" The unbridled enthusiasm worked in my favor, and the assignment was mine.

I picked up a Boston telephone book, and much to my surprise there was a Julia Child listed in Cambridge, MA. I dialed the number and SHE answered the phone! Gulp... Julia readily agreed to let me interview her about the Med and her new book.

I arrived a few weeks later at her Cambridge home, with a chef friend in tow and a bottle of wine -- both to calm my nerves. Julia was pleased with the wine, which had been recommended by a colleague at Oceanus. "Pouligny-Montrachet--nothing wrong with that," she assured me. She brought us into the kitchen (the very one where Julia cooked with Master chefs on several PBS series, and which was later moved piece by piece, cooking implements and all, to the Smithsonian Institution in DC). I plopped my bulky tape recorder onto the massive farm table and pushed the red "Record" button.

I hadn't actually ever conducted an interview before. In advance, I had composed a few interview questions to get things rolling, and figured the rest would take care of itself. It did, but only with Julia's help. She graciously brought the conversation back to the topics at hand whenever we went off on any tangents.

During the interview Julia got up and prepared a simple, delicious lunch of smoked salmon, cheese, homemade bread, and salad with a garlicky vinaigrette. We ate, we sipped, we chatted. It was a lovely experience.

I went home, listened to the audio tapes, reviewed my notes, and eventually wrote an article (attached below). Julia looked it over before we published it and asked for a few minor changes. She was very hands on, very down to earth. I couldn’t have asked for a better first-time interviewee. Thank you Julia.