Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

The Swans of Fifth Avenue – Melanie Benjamin Print Length:  368 pages Publisher:  Delacorte Press (January 26, 2016) Publication Date:  January 26, 2016 Sold by:  Random House LLC How Acquired:  Net Galley What's it about:  Of all the glamorous stars of New York high society, none blazes brighter than Babe Paley. Her flawless face regularly graces the pages of Vogue, and she is celebrated and adored for her ineffable style and exquisite taste, especially among her friends—the alluring socialite Swans Slim Keith, C. Z. Guest, Gloria Guinness, and Pamela Churchill. By all appearances, Babe has it all: money, beauty, glamour, jewels, influential friends, a high-profile husband, and gorgeous homes. But beneath this elegantly composed exterior dwells a passionate woman—a woman desperately longing for true love and connection. Enter Truman Capote. This diminutive golden-haired genius with a larger-than-life personality explodes onto the scene, setting Babe and her

I was first introduced Hetty Green during the Bicentennial.   LIFE Magazine had put out a special issue on noted American women during the previous two hundred years of the nation’s existence and Hetty was one of the women.   Of course, they chose the least flattering picture they could find, Hetty during her later years when she was noted for her eccentricities.   She was nicknamed “The Witch on Wall Street,” which is interesting when you consider there were hardly any women on Wall Street or in business in the 19 th century.   All of which makes Hetty’s accomplishments all the more remarkable.   Unlike Victoria Woodhull and her sister Tennessee Claflin, Hetty didn’t get her stock tips from a railroad tycoon like Cornelius Vanderbilt.   She studied the markets closely, bought low and sold high (Warren Buffett would have been proud), and kept her expenses low by borrowing a desk in the offices of Chemical bank (which later merged with J.P. Morgan).   For years, Hetty was known m

  Billy Rose Theatre Collection, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Most of the time living in New York is delightful, and there are few other cities on this planet (apart from London) that I could see myself living.  However, holiday weekends in New York can be a pain, particularly this past weekend with all the sales going on.  To escape the crowds, I headed up to the Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center to see the Katherine Hepburn exhibt entitled 'Dressed for State and Screen .' While I've been a fan of Katherine Hepburn's since I was a kid, I've never thought of her as a style icon but walking through the exhibit, I had to change my mind.  The exhibit was sponsored by the Kent State University Museum, the recipiant of Hepburn's costumes and other theatrical paraphenalia after her death.  The exhibit wasn't huge but the items they had on display were choice, including the evening gown that she wore in ADAM'S RIB, and the w

Title:   Hello Gorgeous:    Becoming Barbra Streisand Author:   William J. Mann Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publication date: 10/9/2012 Meet the Author: William J. Mann is the author of Kate: The Woman Who Was Hepburn, which was named a New York Times Notable Book, as well as several other acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction. He divides his time between Provincetown, Massachusetts and New York City. My take:    Like the author, I’m not a huge fan of Barbra Streisand.   I think that she has a phenomenal voice, but I haven’t been a huge fan of hers as an actress, apart from her earlier films WHAT’S UP DOC (which is a classic screwball comedy) and THE WAY WE WERE.   While I enjoyed the PRINCE OF TIDES, I thought the last film she directed, THE MIRROR HAS TWO FACES, was just one long therapy session. I suspect that if I knew her, I would find her somewhat insufferable.   I totally get that she’s a perfectionist, I suffer from that same malady myself, but

Ever since Paul Ryan was announced as Mitt Romney’s running mate, the press has made note of his long time devotion to novelist, screenwriter and philosopher Ayn Rand. In a 2005 speech, Ryan said that he grew up reading Rand’s works “and it taught me quite a bit about who I am and why value systems are, and what my beliefs are.” He added, “There is no better place to find the moral case for capitalism and individualism than through her writings and works.” He also claimed that he got involved in public service because of her, and that Atlas Shrugged still informs his views on monetary policy. Well he was a disciple of Ayn Rand; he began to backpedal when his name was thrown began to be bandied about as a possible running mate. Now he says that because of her atheism, and no doubt her stance on abortion, he is no longer such a big fan. Which is kind of funny because it’s not like that’s been a big secret, if you know anything about Ayn Rand. I’ve been meaning to write about

The paintings of John Singer Sargent have gone in and out of fashion over the years. I, for one, am an unrepentant Sargentaholic! One of my favorite things to do is to go to the American Wing at The Metropolitan Museum of Art to visit my two favorite paintings of his, Madame X, and this portrait of Mrs. I.N. Phelps Stokes, also known as Edith Minturn Stokes. What do I love about this painting? Where do I start! I love the vitality of the subject, she just glows with health and energy. And then the slight smile on her face.  She looks fresh and alive and most of all modern. Even her outfit reflects her independence, it's as if she's game for anything.  Love the hands on the hips! Edie's brother Robert once described her as 'fierce.' As a toddler, one of the games that she liked to play was to try and escape the parasol her mother held over her on the beach, running shrieking to the waves. 30 years old when this portrait was painted, she'd already had a bit of

"My mother gave me a completely priceless life." -- "Little Edie" Beale, 1917-2002 Last night I was lucky enough to get see a screening of the new HBO film Grey Gardens starring Jessie Lange as 'Big' Edie Bouvier Beale and Drew Barrymore as 'Little' Edie. Since I don't have HBO, this was the only way that I was going to see the film until it came out on DVD. As a native New Yorker, I was aware vaguely of the story of Jacqueline Onassis' relatives out on Long Island, and the documentary that was made about them, but I had never actually seen the film until two years ago after I had seen the Broadway musical of their live starring Christine Ebersole. After seeing the documentary and the musical, I wasn't sure that the world needed another depiction of their lives unless it was in book form (so far there has been no real biography written about these two women apart from a book by the Mayles and reminiscences from people who worked for the

On the morning of January 31st, 1857, dentist Harvey Burdell was found brutally murdered in his surgery at his home at 31 Bond Street in New York City. The prime suspect was Emma Cunningham, a 39 year old widow with five children who had been serving as the landlady of the boarding house that Burdell ran out of his home. This is the basis for Benjamin Feldman's excellent book Butchery on Bond Street: Sexual Politics & The Burdell-Cunningham Case in Ante-Bellum New York. The case filled the newspapers throughout the inquest and the murder trial of Emma Cunningham for the murder of her lover. She was eventually acquitted but the case brought to light the unsavory underbelly of middle-class life in New York. Emma Cunningham had been born Emma Hempstead in Brooklyn, New York on August 15, 1818. Her father had a small business as a rope-maker for the shipyards. Emma was the oldest of three daughters, and she had ambitions far behind the little neighborhood in which she lived. Her pa

"If my political campaign for the Presidency is not successful, it will be educational!" Victoria Woodhull The election was one of the nastiest political campaigns in years. The incumbent President was hated and reviled by members of his own party. The opposing candidate was running as a maverick, and third political candidate was a woman. The year was 1872 and the candidates for the highest political office in the land were Ulysses S. Grant, war hero who was seeking his second term, Horace Greeley the most famous editor in the United States, and Victoria Woodhull. Yes, over fifty years before women finally gained the vote in the United States, a woman stepped forward to fight for the highest office in the land. Now 170 years after her birth, Victoria Woodhull is all but forgotten, but for a period of ten years in US history, she was one of the most famous women in the country. To show just how improbable and daring this was, let’s remember that women were considered little m