 The book gave insight to their relationship as well as the way that they developed ideas for recipes, projects and food.After Beard's death in 1985, Julia Child wanted to preserve his home in New York City as the gathering place that it had been during his life.Peter Kump, a former student of Beard's and the founder of the Institute of Culinary Education (formerly Peter Kump's New York Cooking School), spearheaded efforts to purchase the house and create the James Beard Foundation.