In Brooke Astors Court

Download or read book In Brooke Astor's Court written by Alice Macycove Perdue and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2014-10-29 with total page 216 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alice Perdue worked for Brooke Astor and her son, Anthony Marshall, for twelve years. She has written a very readable, detailed and personal account of what happened in Mrs. Astor's world before and after she was manipulated into changing her will and legacy. The reader gets a unique look at this charming and spirited woman, a beloved and revered philanthropist who gave tens of millions of dollars to countless organizations in New York City and beyond, but ultimately became the best-known victim of financial elder abuse.

Download or read book Mrs. Astor Regrets written by Meryl Gordon and published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. This book was released on 2008 with total page 367 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gordon's powerful, poignant saga goes behind the gates of a powerful American dynasty--the Astors--to tell of three generations' worth of longing and missed opportunities, which ultimately led to the empire's unraveling.

Download or read book The Last Mrs. Astor: A New York Story written by Frances Kiernan and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2008-05-17 with total page 342 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Kiernan's sharp-eyed biography brings back a woman who, far into her 90s, relished the dance of life." —O, The Oprah Magazine This biography, based on firsthand knowledge and interviews with Mrs. Astor’s friends and the heads of New York’s great cultural institutions, gives us back the woman so loved and admired. At the age of 51, Brooke Astor wedded the notoriously ill-tempered Vincent Astor, who died in 1959. In a highly publicized courtroom battle, she fought off an attempt to break Vincent’s will, which left $67 million to the Vincent Astor Foundation. As the foundation’s president, Mrs. Astor would use this legacy to benefit New York City. She would personally visit every grant applicant and charm anyone she met. At her hundredth birthday, princes and presidents honored her, but in 2006 a grandson petitioned the courts to have his father removed as Brooke’s guardian. Once again an Astor court battle became the stuff of headlines.

Download or read book Footprints written by Brooke Astor and published by Doubleday Books. This book was released on 1980 with total page 408 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Brooke Astor was a sheltered sixteen when she married a young man she met at her first prom at Princeton. In a matter of months, she left her patchwork childhood behind and entered the world of the Roaring Twenties. That marriage and her own intelligence and ebullience caused Brooke Astor to grow up quickly and to make the most of what life had to offer to a witty young woman of charm and spirit. Today Brooke Astor sits on the boards of most of the important New York institutions, including the New York Public Library, the Metropolitan Museum, the Pierpont Morgan Library, and the Bronx Zoo. She administers the Astor Foundation, which gives away a considerable amount of money each year. Footprints recounts the fascinating life Brooke Astor has led: her disastrous first marriage; her second, a fairy-tale romance cut short by the early death of her husband; and her third, to Vincent Astor, one of the richest men in America. The daughter of a career marine officer, Mrs. Astor spent much of her childhood in China. Since then, she has been all over the world and met many of the most famous and interesting personages of the twentieth century -- Cole Porter, Artur Rubinstein, Somerset Maugham, Harold Nicolson, Frank Lloyd Wright, Max Beerbohm. Footprints is a delightful book written with flair and wit. Brooke Astor is never afraid to laugh -- whatever the occasion -- and her attractive and lively personality shines out from every page.

Download or read book A Chinese Garden Court written by Alfreda Murck and published by Metropolitan Museum of Art. This book was released on 1980 with total page 68 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Trial and Heirs written by Andrew W. Mayoras and published by Rj Communications. This book was released on 2012-11-01 with total page 290 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: NEWLY UPDATED 2ND EDITION! The highly-publicized estate battles of celebrities cast a bright spotlight on the importance of having the proper estate planning. You'll have a front row seat in the courtroom while Trial and Heirs: Famous Fortune Fights! replays the "tabloid drama" and points out what went wrong in these riveting cases. Legacy Expert Attorneys Andrew W. Mayoras and Danielle B. Mayoras are your guides - with research and court records in one hand, and juicy celebrity stories in the other. These include Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, Princess Di, Anna Nicole Smith, Heath Ledger, Ray Charles, Jimi Hendrix, Frank Sinatra, Martin Luther King Jr., Brooke Astor, Rosa Parks... and many others! This easy-to-follow guide is complete with Tips to Avoid a Family Fight and Ideas to Spark Family Discussion. The tips alone could save you thousands (or more!) in legal fees. Discover how to steer clear of the same celebrity estate "errors" as you protect yourself and your "heirs."

Download or read book The Bettencourt Affair written by Tom Sancton and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2018-08-07 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An NPR Best Book of 2017 Heiress to the nearly forty-billion-dollar L’Oréal fortune, Liliane Bettencourt was the world’s richest woman and the fourteenth wealthiest person. But her gilded life took a dark yet fascinating turn in the past decade. At ninety-four, she was embroiled in what has been called the Bettencourt Affair, a scandal that dominated the headlines in France. Why? It’s a tangled web of hidden secrets, divided loyalties, frayed relationships, and fractured families, set in the most romantic city—and involving the most glamorous industry—in the world. The Bettencourt Affair started as a family drama but quickly became a massive scandal, uncovering L’Oréal’s shadowy corporate history and buried World War II secrets. From the Right Bank mansions to the Left Bank artist havens; and from the Bettencourts’ servant quarters to the office of President Nicolas Sarkozy; all of Paris was shaken by the blockbuster case, the shocking reversals, and the surprising final victim. It all began when Liliane met François-Marie Banier, an artist and photographer who was, in his youth, the toast of Paris and a protégé of Salvador Dalí. Over the next two decades, Banier was given hundreds of millions of dollars in gifts, cash, and insurance policies by Liliane. What, exactly, was their relationship? It wasn’t clear, least of all to Liliane’s daughter and only child, Françoise, who became suspicious of Banier’s motives and filed a lawsuit against him. But Banier has a far different story to tell... The Bettencourt Affair is part courtroom drama; part upstairs-downstairs tale; and part characterdriven story of a complex, fascinating family and the intruder who nearly tore it apart.