Mrs. Astor Regrets (51 page)

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 Jane Pinto-Reis Brian: Douglas Martin, "Jane Engelhard, 86, Fixture in Society and Philanthropy,"
New York Times,
Mar. 3, 2004.
His death, on the cusp: "Fritz Mannheimer, Financier, Is Dead,"
New York Times,
Aug. 11, 1939, p. 19; "Action Follows Shortly after Mannheimer's Death,"
New York Times,
Aug. 12, 1939, p. 3.
"cigar-smoking German Jew": "Post-War Story,"
Time,
Aug. 21, 1939.

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 "pure-gold bracelets": Stephen Grover, "C. W. Engelhard, Industrialist, Dies at 54,"
Wall Street Journal,
Mar. 3, 1971, p. 8.
"I didn't know": Author phone interview with Susan O'Connor, Mar. 2008.
"People think Annette": Oscar de la Renta interview.
"one could not infer": John Heminway, "At Home on the Range,"
Town & Country,
Aug. 1997, p. 78.

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 "Brooke admired Jane": Author phone interview with Robert Silvers, Mar. 2008.
"Her stepfather adored her": Betsy Gotbaum interview.
"We had the nannies": Susan O'Connor interview.
"She'd make everybody laugh": Author phone interview with Elise Lufkin, Mar. 2008.

99 "People practically committed suicide": Liz Smith,
Dishing
(New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005), pp. 67–71.
"I loved her": Annette de la Renta interview (multiple interviews).
"enormous chocolate cake": Oscar de la Renta interview (multiple interviews).
"They are among": Enid Nemy, "They Look Alike, They Dress Alike, They Like Each Other Very Much,"
New York Times,
Apr. 1, 1967, p. 16.

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 "Annette was unquestionably": Author interview with John Richardson at his home, June 5, 2007.
"Brooke was a better mother": Author phone interview with Florence Irving, Apr. 2008.
"They could be unguarded": Author interview with Randy Bourscheidt in Manhattan, June 8, 2007.
"Jane gathered into herself": Robert Silvers interview.
"When my mother moved": Susan O'Connor interview.

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 "My wife died": Oscar de la Renta interview.
"Astor herself": Julia Reed, "Brooke Astor. The Last Empress,"
Manhattan Inc.,
Sept. 1988.
"It was unpleasant": Annette de la Renta interview.
Oscar and Annette: "Mrs. Reed Weds Oscar de la Renta,"
New York Times,
Dec. 28, 1989.
"I was a little nervous": Betsy Gotbaum interview.
"Brooke was clinging": Oscar de la Renta interview.

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 "They were playing": Robert Silvers interview.
"She leaned over": Author phone interview with Tom Brokaw, Mar. 27, 2007.
"Why couldn't Mr. Clinton": Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.,
Journals: 1952–2000
(New York: Penguin, 2007), p. 719.
"I think there was a moment": Howard Phipps interview.
"Tony was always trying": Author interview with Viscount William Astor, Dec. 26, 2007.
"She unraveled to the point": John Meaney interview.

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 "Brooke said, 'Go out'": Philippe de Montebello interview.
But that autumn: Linda Gilles interview.
"My son is not an Astor": Geraldine Fabrikant, "Brooke Astor Has a Year's Worth of Giving Left,"
New York Times,
Dec. 18. 1996, p. A1.

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 "I'd see her pull herself:" Author interview with confidential source.
"He was always giving her grief": Author interview with Robert Pirie, Sept. 2007.

7.
THE PERILS OF CHARLENE

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 When Mrs. Astor awoke: Author interview with Alicia Johnson in Northeast Harbor, Maine, July 17, 2007.

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 "Maine was perfect": Author interview with Judy Miller in Manhattan, Apr. 2007.
"The house in Maine": Author phone interview with Barbara Walters, Jan. 18, 2008.

106 "They were fighting": Author interview with Betty Halpern in Northeast Harbor, Maine, July 19, 2007.
"This party was not": Author interview with Bob Pyle in Northeast Harbor, Maine, July 19, 2008.

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 "She was hell on wheels": Judy Miller interview.
"She was terrible": Author interview with Freddy Melhado at his home, June 4, 2007.
"They wanted me to dissuade her": Author phone interview with Naomi Packard-Koot, Mar. 2008.
"She would be sitting there": Alicia Johnson interview.

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 "Mrs. de la Renta": Brooke Astor phone logs, 1990–92; Brooke Astor summer calendar schedules, 2000–2002.
"George went every summer": Author phone interview with Susan Trescher, Jan. 2007.
"By the time I left": Author interview with Paul Pearson in Manhattan, Mar. 21, 2007.
"Christopher is outstanding": Joel Schumacher, Jan. 22, 1990.

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 "Brooke read it": Author interview with John Hart in Manhattan, Sept. 26, 2006.
"She would get into": Alicia Johnson interview.
"Brooke couldn't talk on the phone": Author phone interview with Emily Harding, Mar. 2008.

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 "We were both nutty": Author interview with Nancy Pyne in Northeast Harbor, Maine, July 19, 2007.
"Is this another thing": Author phone interview with James McCabe, July 20, 2007.
"I don't know why": Author interview with Gerrit Lansing in Northeast Harbor, Maine, July 18, 2007.
"She'd be right on top": Author interview with Steve Hamor in Northeast Harbor, Maine, July 18, 2007.
"'You'll have a job here'": Author interview with Steve Hamor Jr. in Northeast Harbor, Maine, July 18, 2007.

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 "The high point came": Author interview with Robert Pirie, Sept. 2007.
"Sometimes I lie down": Marilyn Berger. "Being Brooke Astor,"
New York Times,
May 20, 1984.
"Brooke told me": Author interview with Marshall Rose at his office, Apr. 10, 2007.
"I didn't understand": Author interview with Peggy Pierrepont, May 11, 2007.

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 "You have to provide": Author interview with Frances Fitzgerald at her office, Apr. 11, 2007
"I liked the fact": Author phone interview with Paul Gilbert, Jan. 6, 2008.
"We admitted later": Author interview with Tony Marshall at Westchester County
Surrogate's Court, Oct. 19, 2007.

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 "He could walk": Author phone interview with Oscar Johnson Small, Jr., Jan. 2008.
"The father and mother": Author phone interview with confidential source.
"He was a born salesman": Paul Gilbert interview.
"Charlene had a childhood": Author interview with confidential source.

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 "What happened in that house": Author interview with confidential source.
"Charlene would come by": Oscar Small interview.
"The grandmother saved Charlene": Author interview with confidential source.
"Charlene was very funny": Author phone interview with Anne Miller Moises, Jan. 2008.

116 "I remember sitting": Author phone interview with Gail Townsend Bailey, Jan. 2008.

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 "She was very outgoing": Paul Gilbert interview.
"There was no air conditioning": Author interview with Mary Lou Scott in Manhattan, Oct. 9, 2007.
"Charlene and Paul were warmly received": Bob Pyle interview.
"Charlene was more talkative": Author interview with Gunnar Hansen in Northeast Harbor, Maine, July 19, 2007.

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 "My mother died in Charlene's arms": Author phone interview with Pattie O'Brien, Jan. 17, 2008.
"We converted our living room": Paul Gilbert interview.
"We had them to dinner": Frances Fitzgerald interview.
"Francis is very charming": Paul Gilbert interview.

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 "It was a renewal": Tony Marshall interview, Oct. 19, 2007.
"I got to work": Author interview with Sandra Graves in Northeast Harbor, Maine, July 19, 2007.
"If you're a minister's wife": Author interview with Dot Renaud in Northeast Harbor, Maine, July 19, 2007.

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 "I was telling everyone": Author interview with Philip Marshall, multiple interviews, July 28, 2006–June 2008.
"I was very much in love": Author phone interview with Nan Starr, Mar. 2008.
"We were broke": Paul Gilbert interview.
"Charlene's husband": Sandra Graves interview.

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 "Quick? You moved out": Paul Gilbert interview.
"This winter was": Paul E. Gilbert,
Personally Speaking
(Maine: Horizon, 1996), p. 72.
"She has said the marriage": Author interview with Sam Peabody at his home, Apr. 17, 2007.
"One of the sad things": Author phone interview with Pamela Walker, Nov. 2007.
"I'd talk to her": Author interview with Alec Marshall, Jan. 2008.
"It was hard": Philip Marshall interview.

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 "She didn't go to her parish": Author interview with Ashton Hawkins, July 16, 2007.
"Charlene was talking about": Philip Marshall interview.
"Was she a gold digger": Author phone interview with Nan Lincoln, July 2006.

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 Living in a studio apartment: Vicky Ward, "In Mrs. Astor's Shadow,"
Vanity Fair,
Dec. 2007, p. 240.
"She had a miserable beginning": Author interview with confidential source.
"I was not invited": Alec Marshall interview.
"When Tony and Charlene married": Written description from Suzanne Harbour Kahanovitz, July 2006.

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 "Brooke was never hostile": Freddy Melhado interview.
"My impression was": Author interview with Henry Kissinger at his office, Sept. 19, 2007

124 "Charlene is one of those people": Author phone interview with Viscount William Astor, Dec. 26, 2007.
"Tony and Charlene would be staying": Author interview with John Dobkin in Manhattan, Sept. 19, 2006.

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 "Mrs. Astor used to tell": Alicia Johnson interview.
"Brooke assigned them": Ashton Hawkins interview.
"She thought Charlene was taking": Author interview with Liz Smith in Manhattan, Jan. 23, 2007.
"I loved sitting next to": Author interview with Patricia Roberts at her home, Sept. 25, 2007.
"She behaved like a summer person": Gunnar Hansen interview.

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 "Chris said": John Hart interview.
"My grandson, Philip Marshall": Brooke Astor's will, Jan. 30, 2002, Westchester County Surrogate's Court, file no. 2127/2007.

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 "We went by": Nancy Pyne interview.

8.
THE PAINTING VANISHES

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 "An exhilarating picture": Brendan Gill, "A Party for Brooke,"
New Yorker,
Apr. 21, 1997.
Hassam, America's best-known: Ilene Susan Fort, "The Flag Paintings of Childe Hassam," Los Angeles County Museum of Art, 1988.

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 "The curator felt": Author interview with Ashton Hawkins at his office, July 16, 2007.
"Every time I went": Author interview with Philippe de Montebello at the Metropolitan Museum, Mar. 12, 2008.
Dating from 1992: Brooke Astor wills, 1992, 1993, 2001.

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 "It was a picture": Author interview with David Rockefeller at his office, Dec. 18, 2007.
"I didn't even have to ask": Author interview with Annette de la Renta at her home, multiple interviews, Jan. 29, 2008–June 2008.
"'Tony says'": Author phone interview with Viscount William Astor, Dec. 26, 2007.
"At the time the exhibition was arranged": Anthony Marshall Verified Answer and Cross-Petition, New York State Supreme Court, file no. 500095/06, Sept. 19, 2006, p. 35.

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 "I remember her delight": Author phone interview with Peggy Pierrepont, May 11, 2007.
"Tony Marshall was at a dinner": Author phone interview with Gerald Peters, Aug. 13, 2007.
"It worked out well": Ibid.
"I was touched": Annette de la Renta interview.

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 "I want to see you": Author interview with Everett Fahy at the Metropolitan Museum, Apr. 12, 2007.
"What can I do for you": Author interview with Vartan Gregorian at his office, Mar. 24, 2007.
"He stressed": Brooke Astor phone logs, Oct. 22, 2002.
"She really didn't know": Author phone interview with Louise Grunwald, Apr. 2007.
"She always looked wonderful": Author phone interview with Oscar de la Renta, Mar. 2008.
"You told Mr. Rockefeller": Brooke Astor phone logs, Oct. 21, 2002.

133 "A cook had fallen down": Author phone interview with Naomi Packard-Koot, Feb. 8, 2007.
"When Mrs. Astor began to lose": Author phone interview with Marciano Amaral, Jan. 2007.

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 Relatives of that Park Avenue widow: The estate of Elisabeth Von Knapitsch, Surrogate's Court of the State of New York, New York County, file no. 299/00, settlement stipulation, Jan. 27, 2003.
A similar case involving another: The estate of Sam Schurr, Surrogate's Court of the State of New York, New York County, file no. 1121/P2002.

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 "Young Frank is a charming man": Author interview with Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., at his home, Feb. 1, 2007.
"Frank appeared one day": Author phone interview with Frederic Kass, June 2008. limitations of connections: Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr.,
Robert Kennedy and His Times
(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1978), pp. 375–376, 683–685.

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 was later censured and fined: Edgar J. Driscoll, Jr., and David Abel, "Francis X. Morrissey, at 97, was Judge, Longtime Kennedy Confidant,"
Boston Globe,
Jan. 2, 2008, p. B9.
"I'm one of the people": Author phone interview with Nancy Colhoun, Aug. 2007.

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 "It's blatantly improper": Author phone interview with Stephen Gillers, Apr. 2008.
stack of character references: Supreme Court of New York, Appellate Division, First Department, Lexis 11762, Nov. 16, 1995.

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 yearly income of around $150,000: New York State Department Disciplinary Committee, First Judicial Department, Supreme Court Appellate Division, Apr. 9, 1998.
"He was devastated": Author phone interview with Chuck Merten, Nov. 2006.
Morrissey claimed that: New York State Departmental Disciplinary Committee, First Judicial Department, Supreme Court Appellate Division, Apr. 9, 1998, transcript, pp. 83–84.
"my name is the same": Ibid., pp. 113–14.

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 embroiled in other legal controversies: Serge Kovaleski, "Lawyer Charged with Astor Case Has Been Accused of Other Improprieties,"
New York Times,
Dec. 1, 2007, p. B1; Serge Kovaleski, "Many Clients of Astor Lawyer Left Him Bequests in Their Wills,"
New York Times,
Jan. 4, 2008, p. B1.
"Frank can read": Author phone interview with Peter J. Kelley, Dec. 26, 2007.

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 Sam Schurr, an economist: The estate of Sam Schurr, Surrogate's Court of the State of New York, file no. 1121 P2002, affidavit of Donald Novick, Nov. 19, 2003,; affidavit of Stephen Rubin, June 27, 2003.
The Renoirs were actually: Brasswell Galleries, sales inquiry listing.
"There was no one": Author phone interview with Margot Adler, July 2007.