Julie Powell — the bestselling author of Julie & Julia — has died, aged 49, according to US media reports.
The Los Angeles Times reported that Powell died on October 26 at her home in Olivebridge, New York.
Her brother-in-law told the Times her death was caused by "cardiac arrest caused by a heart arrhythmia".
In a statement to the LA Times, Powell's editor Julie Clain confirmed the author's death and remembered her "dazzling brilliance and originality".
"We mourn her loss with her husband Eric and her family," she wrote.
"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.
"She was a brilliant writer and a daring, original person and she will not be forgotten."
A regular poster on Twitter, Powell's final tweet on October 26 said that she had woken up with "Black Hairy Tongue".
"People, including my doctor, seem to think it's no big deal, and will go away soon, but it certainly is gross," she wrote.
Black Hairy Tongue is a rare condition where the tongue turns black from tiny growths called papillae.
Powell had also tweeted about her bout of COVID-19 in mid-September, complaining of a "terrible headache, cough, probably fever, fatigue".
Julie & Julia success
Powell famously documented her challenge to cook every recipe in Julia Child's Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Volume 1.
The then-administrative assistant embarked on the project to help "lend structure to her days", and wrote about the journey in a popular blog for Salon.com.
In 2005 Powell published a book about the experience, titled Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen.
The book was later adapted into a film, written and directed by Nora Ephron and starring Meryl Streep as Julia Childs and Amy Adams as Powell.
In her second and final work, titled Cleaving: A Story of Marriage, Meat and Obsession, Powell revealed she had an affair.
The affair began in 2004 as she was putting the finishing touches on her first book.
In 2006 she was apprenticing at a butcher shop north of New York City.
In Cleaving, Powell wrote of the pain of loving two men at once, and her curiosity with the craft of butchery.
"People coming from the movie Julie & Julia and picking up Cleaving are going to be in for some emotional whiplash," she said in 2009.
"I don’t believe it's going to be a Nora Ephron movie."
ABC/AP
