Julia Child: Video Pioneer, Shark Repeller and French Chef

Julie & Julia, based on the book Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by Julie Powelll, opens in theaters this week.

Warning: there is a bit of language in this video that may be a bit off if you’re watching at work.

Because I’m a huge Julia Child fan, I can’t wait to see the movie. What a life of intrigue, passion, influence, fun and transparency – all the things social media people love.

Did you know Julia worked for the OSS as a spy?

NPR’s story on The National Women’s History Museum exhibit, Clandestine Women: The Untold Stories of Women in Espionage, covers Julia’s spy assignment:

Before becoming a famous chef, Julia Child worked for the OSS. She helped the U.S. spy agency develop shark repellent, a critical ingredient in protecting explosives used to sink German U-boats during World War II.

How fitting – or not – is it that this week is Shark Week on Discovery Channel?

If anyone could cook up shark repellent, it was Julia.

Thinking about the movie took me to my cookbook shelf. I pulled out my two cookbooks Julia signed for me. Then, I tested out iMovie on my new Macbook Pro.

Capturing the video was easy. Uploading it was, well as difficult as making a souffle for the first time. When I asked my son, an A student in multimedia, he told me this program wasn’t familiar. Somehow, I figured it out on my own. After I made the video, I decided to launch the Barbara Rozgonyi YouTube channel. All ready within a few hours. And, in between times I managed to saute not one, but two batches of chicken.

Lessons from Julia Child: The Marketing, PR and Social Media Connection
1. Be yourself and indulge your passions.
2. Reinvent mediocracy – go from tuna casserole to tuna nicoise
3. Role with it – don’t stop the tape, your business or your life to go back when going forward is the way to the table and the party
4. Cook with friends – why be a soloist when you sound so much better with other players?
5. Leave a legacy [or recipes] – visiting Julia Child’s kitchen recreated at The Smithsonian was a highlight for me

What stories or recipes can you share with your world?