Meryl Gordon is the author of the New York Times bestselling Mrs. Astor Regrets and Phantom of Fifth Avenue, a Wall Street Journal bestseller. 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.Gordon's latest book is Bunny Mellon: The Life of an American Style Legend.
From the author's Q&A with Deborah Kalb:
Q: Why did you decide to write a biography of Bunny Mellon?Visit Meryl Gordon's website.
A: I had done two previous biographies of women over [age] 100 in the Social Register with gazillions of dollars. I thought I was done with the genre.
I was asked to do a story on Bunny for Newsweek in 2011 and she agreed to speak to me. The sweep of American history involved in her life—it was so fascinating to relive the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s. Normally by the time someone reaches their 80s, you’re beginning to wind down, but she had more chapters! [It was interesting to see] how close she was to power.
Q: How did you research her long life, and did you learn anything that especially surprised you?
A: The first year you hit your head on the wall, and then things open up. The first year, I was talking to Bunny’s...[read on]
The Page 99 Test: The Phantom of Fifth Avenue.
Writers Read: Meryl Gordon.
The Page 99 Test: Bunny Mellon.
My Book, The Movie: Bunny Mellon.
--Marshal Zeringue