Meryl Gordon - THE WOMAN WHO KNEW EVERYONE

Watch author Meryl Gordon's book talk and reading at Politics and Prose bookstore in Washington, D.C.
PURCHASE BOOK HERE: politics-prose...
Perle Mesta was a force to be reckoned with. In her heyday - the 1940's, 50's and 60's - this extremely wealthy globe-trotting Washington widow was one of the most famous women in America, garnering as much media attention as Eleanor Roosevelt. Renowned for her world-class parties featuring politicians and celebrities, she was very close to three presidents - Harry Truman, Dwight Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson. After Truman named her as the first female envoy to Luxembourg, Irving Berlin wrote an entire hit musical based on Perle's life - "Call Me Madam" - which starred Ethel Merman, ran on Broadway for two years and later became a movie.
Dubbed by Berlin as the "hostess with the mostes'," Perle inherited serious money (Texas oil) and married even more money (a Pittsburgh steel magnate). She had a rollicking life outside of Washington, befriending such Broadway legends as Merman, Angela Lansbury and Pearl Bailey. She also had a serious side. A pioneering supporter of the Equal Rights Amendment dating to the 1930's and influential champion for working women, she was a prodigious Democratic fundraiser and rescued Harry Truman's financially flailing 1948 campaign.
In this intensely researched biography, author Meryl Gordon chronicles Perle's lavish life and society adventures in Newport, Manhattan and Washington while highlighting her important, but nearly forgotten contribution to American politics and the feminist movement.
Meryl Gordon is the New York Times bestselling author of Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of A Family Beyond Reproach, Bunny Mellon: The Life of an American Style Legend and The Phantom of Fifth Avenue. An award-winning journalist, she is a tenured journalism professor at New York University. Her work has appeared in Vanity Fair, New York Magazine and The New York Times.
Be Sure To Click SUBSCRIBE: / @politicsprose
@politicsprose
Visit us online at: www.politics-pr...
Follow us on Twitter: / politicsprose
Follow us on instagram: / politicsprose
Like us on Facebook: / politicsandprose
Follow us on Threads: www.threads.ne...
Follow Us On TikTok: www.tiktok.com...
Subscribe to our e-mail newsletter:
politics-prose...
Become a store member and save: www.politics-p...
Audio Archive: archive.org/de...
Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics and Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics and Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online.
#books #booktube