Kriti Mehrotra
With Netflix’s ‘Apple Cider Vinegar’ chronicling the tale of Belle Gibson, an Australian wellness influencer who lied about having cancer, we get a documentary series unlike any other. After all, it paints a clear picture of every aspect of her personal and professional experiences to show us how and why she did what she died and how it affected others. Amongst those to be affected was Julie Gibbs, the woman who believed in her to such an extent she published her cookbook with claims of recipes that helped “cure” her cancer.
Julie Gibbs Always Had a Passion For the Written Word
Having grown up in the 1970s with the feminism movement, Julie knew from an early age she wished to be a working woman who had mental, financial, and physical independence to do what she wanted. Therefore, once she had graduated high school, she decided to pursue a law arts degree while remaining in her homeland in Australia, unaware she would soon find her calling somewhere else. According to reports, she had taken a part-time job at a bookstore in Adelaide, wherein she found herself so wrapped up in the written word that she soon chose to defer her studies for a path more aligned with her passion.
Julie kickstarted her career as a sales representative at Methuen LBC, only to soon prove her mettle and land the position of editorial assistant at Allen & Unwin in Melbourne. It was here that she was able to climb the ladder and showcase her skills to such an extent that it was evident she would be a great editor, resulting in her being appointed as one at Viking Publisher under the banner of Penguin. This was 1994, but no one could have ever imagined she would soon transform the publishing industry as they knew it by successfully convincing the company to publish an 825-page cookbook with no food photography retailing for an unheard of $75.
This book was ‘A Cook’s Companion’ by Stephanie Alexander, a cookbook that is still widely known across Australia as a stable and one that Julie is incredibly proud of because of the role she played. “When I was publishing those books, there was no internet, so they were books of information that people very much needed,” she recently said. “That was how they got their recipes. To get all that information anywhere else was impossible. That was a very big part of the food publishing phenomenon in the beginning.” From there, she just kept climbing the ladder and became Penguin’s Lantern Publishing’s Founder and Publishing Director in 2004.
Julie Gibbs Remained a Traditional Publication Executive Until 2016
Under the banner of Lantern, Julie thrived and worked with some incredible names like Neil Perry, David Thompson, Karen Martini, Megan Morton, Katie Quinn Davies, and Kara Rosenlund. However, everything turned upside down in the mid-2010s as it came to light that it was under her leadership that Belle Gibson’s ‘The Whole Pantry’ was published. In it, she claimed she had had no cancer growth in two years, but she was claiming to the media and online that her cancer had spread to her blood, breasts, spleen, and uterus too. However, it soon came to light that she never had cancer in the first place.
As this controversy grew, Penguin withdrew Belle’s book from sale, citing a lack of response from her to its queries relating to the media accusations. Yet, according to reports, the publication had already heard rumors and quizzed and videotaped her on her cancer story prior to publication, only to find no concrete evidence for anything. As a result, they had to pay $30,000 (Australian_ to the Victorian Consumer Law Fund as a penalty for failing to validate the factual content of the book. It was shortly after this, in July 2016, that Lantern Books closed its doors for good. Therefore, Julie remained its founder throughout its run.
Julie Gibbs Proudly Serves as a Publisher and Storyteller Even Today
Since 2016, Julie appears to have made the most of her experience in the traditional publication industry and evolved into a freelance publisher, storyteller, and collaborator. Through her brand, she now helps authors reach their audiences in the most effective and lucrative manner, lends her editing expertise, serves as a literary agent, and even hosts and manages different events. After all, in her own words, being a facilitator telling people’s stories and celebrating their achievements is what she loves doing, so she is determined to keep doing so for as long as possible.
As if that’s not enough, Julie now also serves as the lead consultant on the Powerhouse Museum’s Australian Culinary Archive project, the first of its kind to focus on contemporary local cuisine starting from 1968. Through this, she hopes to not just pay respect to food and its history but also educate the younger chefs on how to keep things going. We should also mention Julie is a travel enthusiast, so whenever she is not working or spending time with loved ones, she is exploring new places, meeting new people, and trying new cusines. Whether it be different areas within Australia, Myanmar, Nepal, India, France, or Italy, she has been everywhere in the past few years.
Read More: Belle Gibson: Where is the Scammer Now?
