Bunny Mellon: The Life of an American Style Legend

by Meryl Gordon

Overview

A biography of Bunny Mellon, the style icon and American aristocrat who designed the White House Rose Garden for her friend JFK and served as a living witness to 20th Century American history, operating in the high-level arenas of politics, diplomacy, art and fashion.

Bunny Mellon, who died in 2014 at age 103, was press-shy during her lifetime. With the co-operation of Bunny Mellon's family, author Meryl Gordon received access to thousands of pages of her letters, diaries and appointment calendars and has interviewed more than 175 people to capture the spirit of this talented American original.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781455588749
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	09/26/2017
Pages:	528
Sales rank:	653,933
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.80(d)

About the Author

Meryl Gordon is the author of Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of A Family Beyond Approach. She is an award-winning journalist and a regular contributor to Vanity Fair. She is on the graduate journalism faculty at New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. She is considered an expert on elder abuse and has appeared on NPR, CNN, and other outlets whenever there is a high-profile case.

Table of Contents

All Illustrations Bunny Mellon

Chapter 1 President Kennedy Has a Request 1

Chapter 2 Fifty Summers Later 9

Chapter 3 The Auction of the Decade 14

Chapter 4 Childhood Treasures: A Bottle and a Book 27

Chapter 5 The Making of a Young Gardener 43

Chapter 6 Tally-Ho in Virginia 54

Chapter 7 The Debutante Dances Through the Depression 67

Chapter 8 A Courteous Girl and a Thorough Gentleman 77

Chapter 9 Paul Mellon's Rebellion 88

Chapter 10 The War Years 107

Chapter 11 Millions of Reasons to Remarry 127

Chapter 12 The Best-Dressed List 151

Chapter 13 A Constant Gardener 171

Chapter 14 The Best Friends 191

Chapter 15 A Rose by Any Other Name 205

Chapter 16 November 22, 1963 221

Chapter 17 Carrying On 229

Chapter 18 1968 253

Chapter 19 Paul and Bunny in Love-with Others 267

Chapter 20 The Spending of a Robber Baron Fortune 285

Chapter 21 The Book Stops Here 309

Chapter 22 Entertaining the Royals (Again) 331

Chapter 23 Exits and Entrances 355

Chapter 24 Enduring the Unendurable 377

Chapter 25 A Perilous Political Affair 399

Chapter 26 The FBI Makes House Calls 420

Chapter 27 Everything Should Be Noticed 438

Acknowledgments 453

Reading Group Guide 461

Sources 467

Bibliography 501

Index 505

Editorial Reviews

Bunny Mellon: The Life of an American Style Legend, by Meryl Gordon, is an astute and intriguing portrait of a celebrity who wasn't famous outside her own milieu.

The New York Times Book Review - Alessandra Stanley

08/14/2017
Gordon (Mrs. Astor Regrets) illuminates the virtues and contradictions of socialite Bunny Mellon (1910–2014) in this entertaining tell-all chronicle. Making use of newly available private papers, Gordon paints her subject as an entitled woman with a green thumb and a complex patriotic streak. Over the course of the book, the Listerine-fortune heiress, born Rachel Loew Lambert, evolves from shy schoolmate of interior designer Sister Parish at Foxcroft preparatory school to staunch Democrat and “first friend” during Camelot’s heyday to a centenarian planning her own funeral, with a role for Bette Midler singing “The Rose.” (When the time came, Midler complied.) Mellon’s most celebrated attribute—her aptitude for landscaping—resulted in a request from Pres. John F. Kennedy to design the White House Rose Garden. She had many contradictions. While she flaunted her friendship with Hubert de Givenchy, an overtly gay fashion designer, it took decades for her to accept her daughter’s sexual orientation. Despite her generosity to such public figures as John Edwards—she donated millions to his 2008 presidential bid—she wrote a parsimonious will that disappointed her heirs. Gordon peppers the book with interviews with intimates of Mellon’s such as her goddaughter Caroline Kennedy, who recalls that Mellon “and Mummy were best of friends... with their own special language.” The result is a juicy behind-the-scenes tale of American aristocracy. Photos. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

★ 09/15/2017
From her birth into the Lambert pharmaceutical family through her second marriage to billionaire Paul Mellon, Bunny Mellon's life was one of privilege. Her friends and associates comprised a who's who of politicians, dignitaries, financiers, and socialites, while Mellon herself drew recognition as an art collector, philanthropist, style innovator, and, particularly, landscape designer (one of her renowned accomplishments was designing the White House Rose Garden at the request of close friend and former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy). Gordon (Mrs. Astor Regrets; The Phantom of Fifth Avenue) captures the multiple components of this memorable woman's life, skillfully setting the stage with absorbing details about the family, cultural, and historical elements that helped shape Mellon's world, engagingly sharing the many facets of her 103 years and event-filled journey. The essence of Mellon's personality—independent and deeply enigmatic—shines throughout. The exhaustive and original research, drawn from journals, letters, personal interviews, and previous conversations with Mellon, is smoothly integrated into this admirable work. More than a biography, this title also reflects the people, places, trends, and events of the 20th century and beyond. VERDICT This well-written work transcends one woman's story to present keen insights into the complex fabric of American culture and history. It should appeal to a broad audience.—Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ

Library Journal

2017-09-14
A rapturous biography of heiress and celebrated landscape gardener Rachel "Bunny" Mellon (1910-2014).Vanity Fair contributor Gordon (The Phantom of Fifth Avenue: The Mysterious Life and Scandalous Death of Heiress Huguette Clark, 2014, etc.) vividly details how Mellon, whose paternal grandfather developed Listerine, was raised in an ultrawealthy milieu of fox hunting, posh boarding schools, and debutante balls. She was groomed to become a lady of excellent deportment; as adoringly described by the author, she was a "fresh blossom from a prominent family" who later married Paul Mellon (Mellon Bank), "the inheritor of a robber baron fortune." Gordon's journalistic skill (she teaches at NYU's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute) is evident in her meticulous description of Mellon's lineage and long life, a portrait constructed through research into dozens of biographies, journals, and letters going back nearly a century. Readers of Gordon's other books will certainly enjoy her portrayals of the amusements, travels, and exploits of Mellon's peers; as demonstrated by both Mrs. Astor Regrets and The Phantom of Fifth Avenue, the author has shown great facility in recounting upper-class lives, especially those of women. Though Mellon was an acclaimed landscaper and gardener and was regarded as a woman with "an extraordinary eye and curiosity," she was hesitant when President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jackie implored her to redesign the White House Rose Garden. (Jackie lauded Mellon as "a visual genius.") Gordon effectively details how Mellon transformed the "forlorn and outdated" garden into a courtyard showpiece by adding magnolia and an assortment of other trees, but her admiring descriptions are occasionally overwrought. Ultimately, Gordon heeded Mellon's directive that, above all, she produce a "friendly, non-gossipy" memoir and "be kind." A reverential biographical portrait and a window into 20th-century American aristocracy.

Kirkus Reviews

"Jacqueline Kennedy looked up to her socially. President Kennedy counted on her good taste to design the Rose Garden. Rachel 'Bunny' Mellon lived in a world ardently protected by discreet guards, long driveways, and noble family retainers. Thanks to Meryl Gordon we get past them."

—Chris Matthews, anchor, MSNBC's Hardball, and author of Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero

"With an eye for telling detail balanced by nuanced understanding, Meryl Gordon explores Bunny Mellon's impeccably designed homes and gardens as well as the marital deceptions, family tragedies, intense friendships, and political intrigues. A tale of surprising creativity and resilience."—Sally Bedell Smith, author of Prince Charles: The Passions and Paradoxes of an Improbable Life

"Meryl Gordon's heroic reporting and shrewd insights have given us a fully drawn portrait of one of the twentieth century's most compelling figures, by turns warmhearted and cold-blooded, coping with an emptiness no treasure chests of jewels and art could fill."—Jeff Greenfield, author of If Kennedy Lived

"Who better than the wry, insightful Meryl Gordon to chronicle the life and legacy of such a colorful woman? Gordon is a master at delighting her readers with equal parts history and dish."—Julia Glass, award-winning author of Three Junes and A House Among the Trees

"As stylish and fascinating as its subject, this book is a biographical tour de force."

—Linda Fairstein, New York Times bestselling author

"Meryl Gordon's enchanting story takes us deep inside a lost world of taste and class-a world, as Caroline Kennedy said of Bunny Mellon's life, that was 'beautiful, well-built, and infinitely interesting.'"

—Jonathan Alter, author of The Center Holds: Obama and His Enemies

"Journalist Gordon...again fascinatingly chronicles the remarkable life of an elite twentieth-century American woman....Readers interested in gardening, art, and interior design will drool over Bunny's fine tastes, and her ease at fulfilling every one of them, but all lovers of biographies will marvel at Gordon's portrayal of Bunny's long life, and the significant figures who buzzed in and out of it."—Booklist (Starred Review)

"Gordon illuminates the virtues and contradictions of socialite Bunny Mellon (1910-2014) in this entertaining tell-all chronicle... The result is a juicy behind-the-scenes tale of American aristocracy."—Publisher's Weekly

"A rapturous biography.... and a window into 20th century American aristocracy."—Kirkus

"A gossipy read."—Wall Street Journal

From the Publisher