News & Updates
At age 50, an unknown cookbook author from Cambridge debuted “The French Chef,” coined a catch phrase, and created a legend. ON MAY 19, 1961, PAUL CHILD QUIT HIS JOB after 16 years in the Foreign Service. “Ah, freedom at last — no more of this hurly-burly, thank you very much,” he and his wife, Julia, said to each other. Upon returning to the States from Norway, the Childs moved into 103 Irving Street in Cambridge and set to making it their own. There were many refinements to be made, especially to the kitchen. Julia didn’t care about establishing the…
[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”” padding_right=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][fusion_text] [/fusion_text][fusion_text] Between drought, flood and self-poisoning, Alex Prud’homme believes the human race is in for a tough time, water-wise. (5:35) [/fusion_text][/fullwidth]
[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”” padding_right=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][youtube id=”oWUSWw4-vag” width=”600″ height=”350″ autoplay=”no” api_params=”&rel=0″ class=””][/youtube][separator style_type=”single” top_margin=”10px” bottom_margin=”10px” sep_color=”” border_size=”” icon=”” icon_circle=”” icon_circle_color=”” width=”” alignment=”center” class=”” id=””][fusion_text]The meaning of North American energy independence and how to achieve it has been a hot topic of debate for years. The oil crisis of 1973 brought into focus the stark reality that the US was reliant on other nations for access to oil. Determined to prevent similar incidents, the…
[fullwidth background_color=”” background_image=”” background_parallax=”none” enable_mobile=”no” parallax_speed=”0.3″ background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_webm=”” video_mp4=”” video_ogv=”” video_preview_image=”” overlay_color=”” overlay_opacity=”0.5″ video_mute=”yes” video_loop=”yes” fade=”no” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding_top=”20″ padding_bottom=”20″ padding_left=”” padding_right=”” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” menu_anchor=”” class=”” id=””][youtube id=”jZBCNzrhr60″ width=”600″ height=”350″ autoplay=”no” api_params=”&rel=0″ class=””][/youtube][fusion_text]Alex Prud’homme is a graduate of Middlebury College and attended the Breadloaf Writer’s Conference. He has written for The New York Times, The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, and Time. He has authored five books, including “My Life in France” — Julia Child’s memoir of learning to cook, which inspired half the film “Julie and Julia.” His latest book is about fresh water,…
‘Last Call at the Oasis,’ a Documentary About Water Supplies Jay Famiglietti, one of a handful of expert witnesses in Jessica Yu’s “Last Call at the Oasis,” is a thoughtful scientist with an engaging manner who specializes in water. In particular, he studies — and tries to raise public awareness about — the rapid depletion of water supplies caused by agricultural overuse, rampant development and global climate change. His analyses are thorough and clear, and he presents them, at public meetings and straight to Ms. Yu’s camera, with good-natured patience. For the most part, that is. At one point, contemplating…
Virtually untouched, Alaska’s Bristol Bay is one of America’s last great wild places. Now, a proposed multibillion-dollar mine promises to provide an economic lifeline for locals, but environmentalists warn that it could destroy one of the world’s richest salmon fisheries. Alex Prud’homme reports. THE WAR OVER ALASKA’S SOUL Like much of the Alaskan bush, the landscape surrounding the austere, pewter-colored expanse of Bristol Bay is unlike anything you’ll see in the Lower 48 (a place locals refer to as “America”). This tableau of clear rivers, craggy peaks, bright glaciers, and endless tundra supports an exceptional abundance of wildlife, including 15…
Robert Bea‘s large, beige, seemingly bland office in the engineering building at the University of California at Berkeley is revealed, upon close inspection, to be a cabinet of wonders. Perched on top of neat filing cabinets and tucked into corners are mysterious artifacts from around the world: a massive drill bit, a chunk of rusted metal, a model of an oil platform, a cluster of giant barnacles, strands of Mardi Gras beads, a beer bottle, and other totems. Each of them has a story to tell. That drill bit? It came from an oil rig that sank off the coast…
Friends — a reminder that my latest, THE FRENCH CHEF IN AMERICA: Julia Child’s Second Act, drops Today. Before I launch on my book tour, I’ll be doing a few events in NYC and hope you will join me: TONIGHT(10/4), 7PM at Barnes & Noble, 2289 Broadway at 83rd Street. TOMORROW DAY (10/5) James Beard House, 167 West 12th Street, at 12PM TOMORROW NIGHT IN BROOKLYN: BookCourt, 163 Court Street, 7PM I hope to see you, and Bon Appetite!
Mixing It Up with Julia Child The author’s long and complex relationship with the culinary icon. MIMI SHERATON 10.01.16 12:01 AM ET The date was July 8, 1976, just a few months after I arrived at The New York Times and, as I recall, before I ever had met Julia. The event was a state dinner at The White House given by President and Mrs. Gerald Ford to mark our bicentennial with Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip as the guests of honor. (Come to think of it, it was a sly reminder that “We won. You lost.”) Julia was…
In 2006, Julia Child’s memoir My Life in France was a rousing bestseller. The story of how a “6-foot-2-inch, 36-year-old, rather loud and unserious Californian” (her words) transformed herself and America’s appetites was a sheer delight. But it nearly didn’t happen. For years she had talked about writing a memoir of her postwar years in Paris, and her grandnephew, journalist Alex Prud’homme, kept gently nudging her. Finally, in 2003, she confessed to him that she had not begun to write, and said, “All right, dearie, maybe we should work on it together.” They worked on the book for eight months…