Judith Jones isn't a name that rings a bell but for all the most devoted of foodies (I know I hate that word too but give me a better one). But without her, and her publishers Alfred and Blanche Knopf, Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking might not have been published.

But this woman, who's now in her 80s, went into her small New York City Kitchen, made Julia's Beef Bourguignon and pronounced it perfect. She told Knopf that Americans would want to learn to cook like this and the rest is history.

Houghton Mifflin famously passed on the book not once but twice.

You'll be hearing a lot about Julia Child and Judith Jones this summer as the biopic Julie & Julia hits movie theaters Aug. 15. I met her yesterday and she pronounced Meryl Streep's portrayal of Julia as terrific.

Jones has written her own cookbook, The Pleasures of Cooking for One, which comes out in the fall but it is when she talks about Child and the others whose books she edited (John Updike was a meat and potatoes guy but he could paint a picture), you listen.

Jones regrets that people still avoid the kitchen and that is a sad thought for her. She, like me, believes cooking is a creative art that restores the soul. She calls it almost spiritual to make a meal.

We need her to remind us of it.