Tributes pour in after Julie Powell, inspiration for Julie & Julia film, dies aged 49

Author Julie Powell attends the premiere of "Julie & Julia" at The Ziegfeld Theatre, in New York, on July 30, 2009. Credit: AP Photo/Peter Kramer
Julie Powell found fame through her cooking blog, which was then turned into a book and hit film. Credit: AP

Tributes have poured in for the food writer Julie Powell, the inspiration for the hit film Julie & Julia, who has died aged 49.

Powell became an internet sensation after blogging for a year about making every recipe in American chef Julia Child's book, Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

Fans of Powell said she "made Child relevant to a new generation".

The Julie/Julia Project blog was later turned into a book and a 2009 film adaptation starring Amy Adams and Meryl Streep.

Powell died of cardiac arrest on 26 October at her home in New York, The New York Times reported.

Powell's editor Judy Clain confirmed the writer died and said: “She was a brilliant writer and a daring, original person and she will not be forgotten.

”We are sending our deepest condolences to all who knew and loved Julie, whether personally or through the deep connections she forged with readers of her memoirs."

Powell makes potato leek soup, a recipe in Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," in her apartment in New York in 2005. Credit: AP Photo/Henny Ray Abrams

Smitten Kitchen, a food blog run by Deb Perelman in a "tiny New York kitchen", paid tribute to Powell as a trailblazer in the blogging community.

Perelman tweeted: "I was shocked to learn this morning of the passing of Julie Powell, the original food blogger.

"Cooking through Julia Child's books, she made Child relevant to a new generation, and wrote about cooking in a fresh, conversational, this-is-my-real life tone that was rare back then."

Molly Templeton, a writer and columnist, said: "I remember with alarming clarity what it felt like to find Julie Powell's blog in the mid-2000s, when I was bored and frustrated and not writing what I wanted to; she made things feel possible in a way I had not seen them before.

"I'm so sad about this news."

Powell's 2005 book Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen became the blockbuster film Julie & Julia, with the author portrayed in the movie by Amy Adams and Meryl Streep as Child.

In 2009, Powell released her second book Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession.

She is survived by her husband, Eric.

Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know