Mrs. Astor Regrets (53 page)

11.
BLUE-BLOOD BATTLE

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 "She was perfectly fine": Author phone interview with Marta Grabowska, Sept. 12, 2007.
"I worked with Mrs. Astor": Author phone interview with Beverly Thomson, Aug. 29, 2007. (Note: Thomson originally signed an affidavit supporting Philip Marshall's lawsuit. But after she lost her job as one of Brooke Astor's nurses, she filed a new affidavit on behalf of Tony Marshall.)
"I thought she had fluid": Author interview with Minnette Christie in Manhattan, Jan. 14, 2008.
"For a person": Author interview with Dr. Sandra Gelbard in Manhattan, Oct 3, 2007.
"very elderly people": Author interview with Susan Robbins at her office, Oct. 2006.

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 "Mrs. Marshall burst in": Author interview with Pearline Noble in Manhattan, Apr. 10, 2008.
"This was like nothing": Sandra Gelbard interview.
"She weighs seventy-three pounds": Adam Lisberg, Julian Kesner, and Nancy Dillon, 'Emaciated Brooke's Chart,"
Daily News,
July 31, 2006, p. 3.

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 "Winslow went out": Author interview with Nan Starr, Mar. 2008.
They had to endure: Todd Venezia, Jana Winter, and Ayesha Akram, "'Evil' Son Sees Astor in the Hospital,"
New York Post,
July 29, 2006, p. 7.
"I thought, oh my God": Author interview with Moises Kaufman at his office, May 15, 2007.

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 "shocked and deeply hurt": Anthony D. Marshall statement, July 27, 2006, issued by Stephanie Pillersdorf, Citigate Sard Verbinnen.
When the
Daily News:
Helen Peterson, "I Am Son Kind of Wonderful,"
Daily News,
July 28, 2006, p. 7.
"In these family fights": Author phone interview with Harvey Corn, Nov. 2006.

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 "Are you kidding?": Susan Robbins interview.
"There was a guard": Ibid.

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 "She was stable to go": Sandra Gelbard interview.
No one had the courtesy: Timothy Williams, "Son Not Notified as Mrs. Astor Goes to Westchester,"
New York Times,
July 30, 2006.
"I touched him on the knee": Author interview with Philip Marshall, multiple interviews, July 28, 2006–June 2008.

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 "Ordinarily, it would have been": Vicky Ward, "In Mrs. Astor's Shadow,"
Vanity Fair,
Dec. 2006.

205 "Charlene was seething": Philip Marshall interview.
"Mrs. Marshall was trying": Pearline Noble interview.
"Charlene is a Leo": Author interview with Daniel Billy, Jr., in Manhattan, Mar. 3, 2008.

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 "I know that I am right": Anthony Marshall statement, July 30, 2006.
"Oh, I couldn't possibly answer": Cara Buckley, "Socialite's Son Pays a Visit, Then Lashes Out at Those Accusing Him of Mistreatment,"
New York Times,
July 31, 2006.
"No protégée of Brooke Astor": Joseph Goldstein, "The Melodrama over Mrs. Astor Enters a Second Bitter Act,"
New York Sun,
July 31, 2006.
"I understood that Charlene": Author interview with Paul Saunders, Jan. 29, 2008.

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 "When you go to see her": Justice Stackhouse's remarks, court file, transcript.

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 "Someone got in there": Susan Robbins interview..
"The couch referred to": Harvey Corn legal papers filed in guardianship lawsuit.
"We don't know who did it": Adam Lisberg, "Sofa from Truth Say Astor Kin,"
Daily News,
Sept. 13, 2006, p. 6.

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 "I was on Philip's side": Author interview with Suzanne Kuser in Washington, D.C., June 28, 2007.
"Mr. Marshall told me": Author interview with Steve Hamor in Northeast Harbor, Maine, July 19, 2007.

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 "philanthropist now appears": "The Brooke Astor Effect,"
New York Times,
Aug. 7, 2006, p. A14.
"Mr. Marshall has been lovingly devoted": Kenneth Warner and Harvey Corn, letter to the editor,
New York Times,
Aug. 11, 2006, p. A14.

12.
THE ART OF SHUNNING

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 "I debated": Author phone interview with Tony Marshall, June 16, 2007.
"I averted my eyes": Author interview with Philippe de Montebello at the Metropolitan Museum, Mar. 12, 2008.
"It was an unpleasant situation": Author interview with Annette de la Renta at her home, Jan. 29, 2008.
"By my being there": Tony Marshall interview.

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 "She certainly came to me": Author interview with Brenda Husson at St. James' Church, July 2, 2007.
"She'd sit in the back of the church": Author interview with Sam Peabody at his home, Apr. 17, 2007.

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 "You would think that people": Author phone interview with Christopher Meigher, Mar. 2008.
"Was Mrs. Astor competent": Leslie Gordon Fagen for J. P. Morgan Chase, Reply Affirmation in Support of the Temporary Guardian's Application, Supreme Court of the State of New York, index no. 500095/06, Sept. 12, 2006, p. 5.
As part of the ongoing blizzard: Anthony Marshall, Verified Answer and Cross-Petition, Supreme Court of the State of New York, Sept. 19, 2006.

217 "were furious at me": Author interview with Freddy Melhado at his home, June 13, 2007.

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 "If anyone deserved a painting": Author phone interview with Viscount William Astor, Dec. 26, 2007.
Tony abruptly admitted: Harvey Corn to J. P. Morgan Chase, Aug. 28, 2006, Supreme Court of the State of New York, index no. 500095/06.
"My client was outraged": Author phone interview with Alan Pollack, Dec. 21, 2007.
"I consider Chris and Philip": Annette de la Renta interview.

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 "I loved him": Susan Robbins interview.
"She was so great": Author interview with Philip Marshall, multiple interviews, July 28, 2006–June 2008.

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 "was a smoking cannon": Susan Robbins interview.
"It was an oh-my-God moment": Author phone interview with Ira Salzman, Mar. 2008.
"I don't know what's the matter": Anthony D. Marshall to Dr. Howard Fillit, Dec. 26, 2000, Supreme Court of the State of New York, index no. 500095/06.

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 "We knew it was": Paul Saunders interview.
"on a witch hunt": Kenneth Warner, Attorney's Affirmation in Response, Supreme Court of the State of New York, index no. 500095/06, Sept. 22, 2006, p. 7.
"Mrs. Astor was obviously": Harvey Corn, Affirmation in Opposition to the Motion of Susan Robbins, Sept. 14, 2006, p. 7.
During the three emotional hours: Neil Weinberg, "The Father, the Son and High Society,"
Forbes,
Oct. 9, 2006, p. 46.

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 In the full transcript: Courtesy of Neil Weinberg.

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 "The term I would use": Author interview with David Rockefeller at his office, Dec. 18, 2007.
"Every time there was something": Author phone interview with Barbara Walters, Jan. 18, 2008.
"They were deathly afraid": Author interview with Paul Saunders in Manhattan, Jan. 29, 2008.
"I wanted a standstill": Author phone interview with Harvey Corn, Feb. 2008.

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 "That's when I said": Susan Robbins interview.
"Susan didn't want": Paul Saunders interview.
"I have known Mrs. Astor": Stefanie Cohen, "Astor Great Society War Ends as Son Cedes Fight for Brooke,"
New York Post,
Oct. 14, 2006, p. 9.

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 Yet the actual legal agreement: Supreme Court of the State of New York, file no. 500095/06, stipulation and settlement order, Oct. 13, 2006.
"There will be a battle royal": Vicky Ward, "In Mrs. Astor's Shadow,"
Vanity Fair,
Dec. 2006, p. 230.
"Tony said those had been gifts": Author phone interview with Grace Richardson, May 2007.

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 "due to the deterioration": Serge Kovaleski; "Expert Says Mrs. Astor's Signature Was Forged,"
New York Times,
Oct. 20, 2006, p. B1.
"I thought he was brilliant": Susan Robbins interview.

228 "When I spoke to the doctor": Author phone interview with Lois Orlin, Jan. 24, 2008.
"I kept telling everyone": Author interview with Minnette Christie in Manhattan, Jan. 14, 2008.
"Come on, Mrs. A.": Author interview with Pearline Noble in Manhattan, Jan. 14, 2008.

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 "I recited it every time": Author phone interview with Sandra Foschi, Jan. 31, 2007.
"They'd wheel her": Author phone interview with Alec Marshall, Mar. 2008.
"You could see her eyes light up": Author phone interview with Naomi Packard-Koot, Mar. 2008.

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 "Fortunately, I really don't think": Author interview with David Rockefeller in Manhattan, Dec. 18, 2007.
"Mr. Rockefeller would hold her hand": Author phone interview with Noreen Nee, Jan. 2008.
"When I would give her communion": Author phone interview with Rev. Charles
Pridemore, Aug. 2007.
"It was tense": Noreen Nee interview.
"All the staff came to him": Author interview with Sam Peabody at his home, Apr. 17, 2007.

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 "They sang for her like a band": Pearline Noble interview.
"We didn't have to be so formal": Author interview with Sophie Marshall, Apr. 2008.
"If I knew that things": Minnette Christie and Pearline Noble interviews.

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 On December 4, 2006: Justice John Stackhouse ruling on legal fees, Dec. 4, 2006, Supreme Court of the State of New York, index no. 50095/06, court evaluator Sam Liebowitz report; guardianship files.

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 "My understanding is": Author interview with Henry Kissinger at his office, Sept. 19, 2008.

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 "She threw herself": Author interview with Louis Auchincloss, May 2007.
"As you may know": Charlene Marshall, "A Letter to the People of St. James,"
St. James Epistle,
Dec. 2006.
"We went, we made our excuses": Author interview with Paul Gilbert, Jan. 6, 2008.

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 "It has nearly destroyed him": Author interview with Catia Chapin at her home, Mar. 18, 2007.
"I don't know Tony Marshall": Author phone interview with Chuck Merten, Nov. 2006.
"I've never had a lot": Author phone interview with Richard Estes, July 19, 2007.

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 "So much has changed": Philip Marshall to Tony Marshall, Mar. 18, 1993. Collection of Philip Marshall.

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 "I said no": Paul Saunders interview.

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 "She does spend a lot of time sleeping.": Associated Press, "Quiet 105th Birthday for Socialite Astor," Mar. 30, 2007; Ethan Rouen and Celeste Katz, "Mrs. Astor Snoozes Thru B'day Visit by Embattled Son,"
Daily News,
Mar. 31, 2007, p. 10; Jill Culora. "A High 105 for Brooke,"
New York Post,
Mar. 25, 2007, p. 21. Jill Culora, "A High 105 for Brooke,"
New York Post,
Mar. 25, 2007, p. 21.
David Rockefeller carried: Serge Kovaleski, "Flowers, Not Fanfare for Brooke Astor's 105th,"
New York Times,
Mar. 31, 2007, p. B2.
"She knew that everyone": Annette de la Renta interview.
"My grandmother was taking it all in": Philip Marshall interview.

13.
A WONDERFUL LIFE

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 "I am very distressed": Alec Marshall to Tony Marshall, May 2007.
Quoted with permission from Alec Marshall.

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 "I thought this was the only chance": Author interview with Alec Marshall at his home, Dec. 12, 2007.
"Trust me, they're shunned": Author interview with Clare Stone in Northeast Harbor, Maine, July 18, 2007.
"It was almost like": Author interview with Betty Halpern in Northeast Harbor, Maine, July 2007.

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 "They have a lot of nerve": Author interview with Dot Renaud in Northeast Harbor, Maine, July 2007.
"We came up the day before yesterday": Author phone interview with Tony Marshall, June 16, 2007.
"When the Marshalls came up": Author phone interview with William Bigelow, July 2007.
"She grabbed my hand": Author interview with Noreen Nee, Mar. 2008.
"When I first went in the room": Author interview with David Rockefeller at his office, Dec. 18, 2007.

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 "I was there": Author phone interview with Charles Pridemore, Aug. 2007.
"heartless and hostile": Tony Marshall, affidavit filed in Westchester County Surrogate's Court, file no. 21227/2007, Aug. 2007.
"I told Tony": Author interview with Annette de la Renta, multiple interviews, Jan. 29, 2008–July 2008.
"He glared at us": Author interview with Minnette Christie in Manhattan, Apr. 10, 2008.

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 "There was a bit of a scare": Author phone interview with Philip Marshall, Aug. 12, 2007.
"She was sweating": Author interview with Minnette Christie in Manhattan, Jan. 14, 2008.
"I will never forget": Author interview with Pearline Noble in Manhattan, Jan. 14, 2008.

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 "She's traveling" Minnette Christie interview.
"I have lost":
www.nytimes.com
, Aug. 13, 2008.
"Brooke left the world": Ibid.
"He was able to cradle her": Corky Siemaszo, "Socialite and Philanthropist Brooke Astor Dead at 105,"
Daily News,
online ed., Aug. 13, 2007.
"The Marshalls got there": Charles Pridemore interview.

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 The
New York Times
immortalized: Marilyn Berger, "Brooke Astor, Wry Aristocrat of the People, Is Dead at 105," Aug. 14, 2007, p. 1.

245 "The accusation of": Barbara Ross, Adam Lisberg, and Corky Siemaszo. "Fight over Brooke Fortune," Aug 15, 2007, p. 8.
Mrs. Astor "was not competent": Serge Kovaleski, "Astor's Guardians Challenge Her Last Wills, Citing Incompetence,"
New York Times,
Aug. 16, 2007, p. B1.

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 "For someone who is supposed to": Barbara Ross, Peter Kadushin, and Corky Siemaszo, "Astor Family Feud Heats Up as City Buries a Legend,"
Daily News,
Aug. 17, 2006, p. 5.
I was at my mother's bedside": Author interview with Tony Marshall, Westchester County Surrogate's Court, Sept. 5, 2007.
"I thought it was tacky": Author phone interview with Philip Marshall, Aug. 2008.
"It was unclear": Author interview with Paul Saunders in Manhattan, Jan. 29, 2007.

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 "In a perfect world": Author phone interview with Annette de la Renta, May 2008.
"There was no need": Author phone interview with Susan Robbins, Aug. 2007.
list of guests: Eric Konigsberg and Serge Kovaleski, "Funeral A-List: New Version of Mrs. Astor's 400,"
New York Times,
Aug. 15, 2007, p. B1.

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 "Our side didn't leak": Author phone interview with Daniel Billy, Jr., Aug. 2007.
"It was a roomful of people": Author interview with Henry Kissinger at his office, Sept. 19, 2007.
"I was pretty much planning": David Rockefeller interview.