What Was Julie Powell's Net Worth?
Julie Powell was an American author who had a net worth of $1.5 million at the time of her death. Julie Powell was best known for writing "Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen." The book was based on her blog, the "Julie/Julia Project." A film based on her book called "Julie & Julia" was released in 2009 and starred Amy Adams and Meryl Streep. Powell released a second book, "Cleaving: a Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession," the same year, which detailed the story of her relationship with her husband and various experiences with infidelity.
Early Life
Julie Powell was born Julia Anne Foster on April 20, 1973, in Austin, Texas. She was the daughter of John Landrum and Kay Elaine Foster, and she had a brother named Jordan. After completing high school, Julie enrolled at Amherst College. She graduated in 1995 with a double major in theater and creative writing
Career
Powell began working for the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation in New York City following the September 11th attacks. While there, she began the "Julie/Julia Project," a blog on "Salon" that chronicled her attempt to cook all the recipes in the cookbook, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," by author Julia Child. Child is credited with bringing the art of French cooking to American audiences after having lived in France and attended cooking school there. At the time, Powell was not very fulfilled in her career and was about to turn 30, so she decided to write the blog for inspiration.
The blog quickly gained a large following, with readers inspired by the various challenges Julie faced trying to recreate complicated French recipes in her small New York apartment kitchen. Prior to starting the blog, there were a number of foods that Powell had never tried or really disliked, such as eggs, beans, olives, anchovies, spinach, and fresh peas. Nonetheless, she steadily worked through all the recipes in the book and wrote about the process along the way.
The blog became so popular that Powell landed a book deal with Little, Brown and Company. She wrote the book "Julie and Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen," which was published in 2005. When the book was released in paperback, its title was changed to "Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously."
Reportedly, Julia Child was unimpressed with the project, as she thought Powell's determination to cook every recipe from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in one year to be a stunt. Child's editor stated that both she and Julia were not impressed with the blog, as it didn't often focus on the end result of making the recipe or what Powell had learned in the process of working her way through the cookbook.
Other reviews of Julie's book were also mixed. David Kamp of "The New York Times" did not enjoy Powell's writing style, finding it messy. A writer from "The A.V. Club" did not think the blog transitioned well into book form, finding that the stream-of-consciousness style of the blog did not really work in a book. However, the book also received more positive reviews, such as from "Publishers Weekly" and "Kirkus Reviews."
Powell's book was later turned into a film entitled "Julie & Julia" by director Nora Ephron. It was released in August 2009. The film was based both on Powell's book as well as Julia Child's autobiography, "My Life in France." Amy Adams starred as Julie Powell, while Meryl Streep starred as Julia Child. The film was the first major motion picture based on a blog.
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Powell published a second book, "Cleaving: a Story of Marriage, Meat, and Obsession," in November 2009. The book details her experience learning to butcher at the New York butcher shop Fleisher's and the effects that working there had on Julie, her husband, and their marriage. Specifically, she wrote about the affair she had with an ex-boyfriend and how her husband subsequently began seeing someone else as well. In general, the book received negative reviews based on its content and Powell's openness about the affairs, which some reviewers found to be lacking in remorse or perspective.
In 2022, Julie started writing a series of commentary pieces for "Salon" about "The Julia Child Challenge," a Food Network reality television show. Powell was not involved in making the show but was hired by the magazine for her perspective, given that she had previously cooked many of Child's recipes.
Personal Life and Death
Julie married Eric Powell, an editor for the magazine "Archaeology," in 1998. The couple experienced various trials and tribulations throughout their marriage, many of which are detailed in Julie's books. She lived in New York City before later moving to Olivebridge, New York. After battling COVID-19, Powell died of cardiac arrest on October 26, 2022, at the age of 49.
