Julia Child is a native of California and a Smith College graduate. Shortly after the appearance of the book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" in 1961, Julia Child began appearing in the public television series "The French Chef," which aired for many years all over the United States, and in 1978 the program "Julia Child & Company" was launched, followed the next year by "Julia Child & More Company." In 1968 recipes from her early programs, many of which were drawn from this book, were published in "The French Chef Cookbook." In 1975 "From Julia Child's Kitchen "was published, followed in 1978 and 1979 by "Julia Child & Company" and "Julia Child & More Company," based on those programs. Also based on television series were the two books--"Cooking with Master Chefs" and "In Julia's Kitchen with Master Chefs"--she wrote in the mid-1990s, as well as "Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home," with Jacques Pepin, in 1999. "The Way to Cook," her magnum opus, was published in 1989, and in 2000 she gave us "Julia's Kitchen Wisdom," a distillation of her years of cooking experience.