Julia Child

Julia Child, another major life influence for me, has died at the age of 91. I think she is more responsible than almost any one person for my very early interest in fine cooking and the world of multicultural food. I have not travelled nearly as much and as widely as I have wanted to, but my taste buds have travelled the most. From the age of 12, I sampled the cuisines of the world, starting with the Empress and Queen of cooking, France, because of Child, and Japan, because of my father. (No, he's not Japanese, he was just very taken with their culture when he was in the Air Force there in the late 1940s, and it rubbed off a bit.) Today the airwaves are awash with "celebrity chefs" but they just don't make them like Julia anymore.