This Fall's Big Speaker!

Hey William and Mary--

Well, the wait is over, and we are pleased to announce that we have recently confirmed this Fall's Big Speaker!

As we mentioned in a previous blog post, we attempted to book a couple of speakers at the beginning of the summer, who ended up not working out for a variety of reasons. (financial reasons, scheduling conflicts, etc)

By the beginning of August, we were still speaker-less, and looking for inspiration wherever we could find it! There are a lot of speakers out there who seem so "last year," and while they would definitely be affordable, they didn't necessarily seem contemporary, which is what Contempo Cult is all about!

Then, a movie called Julie and Julia appeared on the scene, and we were intrigued. (As were the countless other movie-goers, who allowed the movie to make over $20 million in its first weekend, and remain in the top ten at the box office for over 6 weeks!)

Critics and audience members alike were fawning over the culinary caper-Entertainment Weekly even made the bold claim that it was Meryl Streep's Oscar to lose- and it had certainly caught the attention of Contempo Cult.

Everyone knows Julia Child, the "Julia" half of the film's title. Lesser-known, but just as fascinating, is "Julie" (aka Julie Powell) the real-life writer/chef/blogger who took on the daunting task of cooking her way through every single recipe in Julia Child's cookbook- Mastering the Art of French Cooking.

The project originated as a blog titled The Julie/Julia Project, and later evolved into the book Julie and Julia, which still remains on the New York Times bestseller list. She now has a second book in the works entitled Cleaving which will be released this coming December.

We are very pleased to be bringing Ms. Powell to campus to share her story with the W&M community. She will also be signing copies of her book during a reception which will follow the event.

Tickets will be $2 for W&M students- but your friends and family are welcome too-- tickets for the public will be available for $10 each. Also- keep an eye out for announcements about how you can have a chance to score some free tickets in the days leading up to the event!

In the meantime, check out the original Julie/Julia Project Blog, and be sure to mark your calendars for her event on October 19!

BON APPETIT!
-Contempo Cult