Julia Child Signs Books at the Coop

Long lines formed at the Harvard Coop Bookstore yesterday, as about 150 locals gathered to get an autograph and a glimpse of television chef Julia Child.

After signing hundreds of copies of her latest book, Cooking With Master Chefs, Child expressed her enthusiasm both for cooking and for teaching others to create their own gastronomical delights.

"You have to like teaching," she said. "It's a wonderful hobby. It takes intelligence and creativity to do it well, and I find it totally absorbing. It really takes everything you've got."

Child also said she was pleased with the advancement of cooking as a profession.

"Now, cooking has become a more accepted and honored profession," she said. "More and more younger people are getting into it. There are even courses offered here in the Schlesinger [Library]."

Most fans said that although they had rarely found success in recreating Child's culinary delights, they simply enjoy watching Child's shows for entertainment and to learn her techniques.

"The best thing about her show is that she actually shows you the technique instead of the recipe," said Francis W. Quinn '88. "She shows you how to do a chicken saute, and you can adapt it to other recipes for meats. She does a good job with the technique."

Nicole L. Gresham '96, who also said she likes to watch Child's programs, offered a practical reason for not trying out Child's recipes. "In the last show I watched, she was making lentils, and you can't make lentils in your dorm room," she said.

Others, like Michael W. Voligny, stood in line in order to get presents for their culinary talented friends and relatives.

"I do some cooking--to survive," said Voligny, a fundraising official at the Graduate School of Design. "At least it's fun to watch. I do buildings, not food."

"It's a Christmas gift for my father," Gresham said. "My father always wanted me to go to her grocery store when I was little. I'm more of a cake-mixer."

"It'll become a collector's item," said Jeff W.Ritter, a former Harvard staff employee. "It'sonly a matter of time. She's already a culturalicon."

Jessica E. Daniels '97, who brought in herautographed Mr. T lunch box, welcomed the additionof another signature on it.

"I'm just going to collect signatures on this[lunch box]. It's going to be worth a whole lotsomedaY," Daniels said.

Meanwhile, Peter F. Rojas '97 found this anopportunity to find an ally for his fight againstone of his main gripes about campus food: theabundance of raisins.

He held a slip destined for the dining hallsuggestion box, saying, "Dear Dining Services,Please stop putting raisins in the pastries,desserts, and baked goods. As a master chef, Iknow raisins are an unnecessary and unwelcomeaddition to most foods."

Finally reaching the front of the line, hemanaged to talk Child into endorsing it with hersignature.

"If the Dining Services don't take meseriously, I hope they take her seriously, as thegreatest chef in the world.

"It'll become a collector's item," said Jeff W.Ritter, a former Harvard staff employee. "It'sonly a matter of time. She's already a culturalicon."

Jessica E. Daniels '97, who brought in herautographed Mr. T lunch box, welcomed the additionof another signature on it.

"I'm just going to collect signatures on this[lunch box]. It's going to be worth a whole lotsomedaY," Daniels said.

Meanwhile, Peter F. Rojas '97 found this anopportunity to find an ally for his fight againstone of his main gripes about campus food: theabundance of raisins.

He held a slip destined for the dining hallsuggestion box, saying, "Dear Dining Services,Please stop putting raisins in the pastries,desserts, and baked goods. As a master chef, Iknow raisins are an unnecessary and unwelcomeaddition to most foods."

Finally reaching the front of the line, hemanaged to talk Child into endorsing it with hersignature.

"If the Dining Services don't take meseriously, I hope they take her seriously, as thegreatest chef in the world.