She was one of a kind, Julia Sugarbaker was just like her in so many ways. I discovered that when I read her book and really learned to like the actress as much as the character.
My husband always refers to my rants as "Julia Sugarbaker moments". She was my absolute favorite on that show, and I have some of her terminator speeches committed to memory (I pull out that "crazy people in the South" one often). This news breaks my heart. My favorite Julia moment cannot be found on YouTube...it's the episode with "Ray Don".