Julie Powell, author of the bestselling Julie & Julia, has died at the age of 49

Julie Powell, the culinary writer best known for her wildly popular Julie & Julia memoirs, died suddenly at the age of 49.

The top-selling author died at her home in Olivebridge, New York, last Wednesday following a cardiac arrest, according to the New York Times. She was left behind by her husband, brother and parents.

Powell became a literary sensation in 2005 with the release of Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, a humorous account of her attempt to recreate every recipe from Julia Child’s classic Mastering the Art of French Cuisine.

Tom has sold over a million copies and led to a 2009 film adaptation directed by Nora Ephron and starring Meryl Streep. Oscar-nominated Amy Adams played Powell in the blockbuster movie that grossed nearly $ 130 million at the box office.

“She had so much talent and emotional intelligence,” said Powell’s editor Judy Clain New York Times. The publication was the first to report on the writer’s tragic death on Tuesday.

Powell was born and raised in Austin, Texas and graduated from Amherst College in 1995.

Feeling lost and fearing that she would never succeed as an author, Powell began blogging in 2002, writing about her attempts to cook recipes from Child’s iconic cookbook. A blog titled “Julie / Julia Project” was picked up by Salon.com, where it gained thousands of dedicated readers.

In those days, blogging was still a relatively new format, and Powell became one of its leading figures, gaining widespread acclaim for its accessible and self-deprecating style of writing.

“She wrote about eating in a really human voice that sounded like people I knew,” food blogger Deb Perelman told The Times. “She communicated that you can write about food even without attending culinary school, without much experience and in a real kitchen.”

The book “Julie & Julia” from 2005 was created on the blog, which in turn became the inspiration for the 2009 film of the same title.

That same year, Powell published her second book, Cleaving: a Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession. Despite critics’ praise, the book did not sell as well as its blockbuster movie.

Powell and her husband, editor of magazine Eric Powell, left New York in 2018, settling permanently in Olivebridge, a tiny town in the Catskill Mountains.

The writer’s sudden death was shocked on Twitter, where thousands of fans flocked to pay tribute.

“I remember with alarming clarity what it was like to find Julie Powell’s blog in the mid-2000s when I was bored and frustrated and didn’t write what I wanted; she made things seem possible in ways I hadn’t seen before. I’m so sorry for this news ” one wrote.

“It’s just a painful message” another mourned. “Follow the dreams you dream about now.”