August 14, 2008
Julia Child — Spy!
Documents detailing a precursor to the current CIA show Julia Child, among a handful of other prominent Americans, to have worked for the intelligence agency during the second world war.
Among the more than 35,000 OSS personnel files are applications, commendations and handwritten notes identifying young recruits who, like Child, Goldberg and Berg, earned greater acclaim in other fields — Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a historian and special assistant to President Kennedy; Sterling Hayden, a film and television actor whose work included a role in “The Godfather”; and Thomas Braden, an author whose “Eight Is Enough” book inspired the 1970s television series.
Other notables identified in the files include John Hemingway, son of author Ernest Hemingway; Quentin and Kermit Roosevelt, sons of President Theodore Roosevelt, and Miles Copeland, father of Stewart Copeland, drummer for the band The Police.
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3 Responses to “Julia Child — Spy!”
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Surprised the “news” of Julia Child’s OSS days. That’s been open knowledge for a long time. Release of documents new, but not the fact she worked there during the war.
I’m picturing her voice on the end of a crackling phone line:
Meet me on the bridge at midnight. I’ll be wearing a trench-coat–size 42 Long–and holding a tarte tatin…”
Frank, you’ve touched on a characteristic of journalism, of news coverage, that drives me to crumple a section of newspaper and toss it to the floor on something close to a daily basis. I know my reaction is silly; after all, journalism is “du jour”. The exercise of memory and continuity does not help the journalist write headlines, and old news does not sell newspapers.
And so “the secret is out” — Julia Child! OSS! A secret that never was a secret.
Over and out — before an observation becomes a rant becomes a tirade and before I become a tiresome crank.