000 04293cam a22004938i 4500
001 23774653
003 MeVbMML
005 20250109105713.0
008 240712s2024 nyu b 001 0beng
010 _a 2024025109
020 _a9781538751244
_q(hardcover)
020 _z9781538751237
_q(ebook)
040 _aDLC
_beng
_erda
_cDLC
042 _apcc
043 _an-us-dc
_an-us-ri
_an-us-ok
050 0 0 _aE840.8.4.M574
_bG67 2024
082 0 0 _a973.9/092
_aB
_223/eng/20240712
100 1 _aGordon, Meryl,
_eauthor.
_919097
245 1 4 _aThe woman who knew everyone :
_bthe power of Perle Mesta, Washington's most famous hostess /
_cMeryl Gordon.
246 3 0 _aPower of Perle Mesta, Washington's most famous hostess
250 _aFirst edition.
263 _a2412
264 1 _aNew York :
_bGrand Central Publishing,
_c2024.
300 _apages cm
336 _atext
_btxt
_2rdacontent
337 _aunmediated
_bn
_2rdamedia
338 _avolume
_bnc
_2rdacarrier
504 _aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505 0 _aIntroduction Broadway Bound -- A Texas/Oklahoma Upbringing -- The Man of SteelGeorge Mesta -- Starting Over -- Oklahoma, Revisited -- Acts of Rebellion -- Perle Makes Feminist History -- The Moon, the Stars and All the Planets -- The Entertainer-in-Chief -- Democratic Party Stalwart -- Dewey Beats Truman? -- Just Reward, or Government by Crony? -- Advise and Consent -- Lost and Found in Luxembourg -- Call Me Madam -- I like Ike -- Divided Loyalties -- Goodbye Without Leaving -- From Royalty to Russia -- There's No Place Like Home -- Have Passport, Will Travel -- The World Traveler Recovers -- Windy City BluesThe Party Must Go On -- Fly Me to the Moon. -- All the Way (Or not at all) with LBJ -- A House is not a Home -- Alone Again -- Blame It on the Frug -- Tumultuous Times -- A World Turned Upside Down -- The Undaunted Feminist -- The Octogenarian Jetsetter -- "Perle, you're an event in the life of America."
520 _a"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 mostess'," 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"--
_cProvided by publisher.
600 1 0 _aMesta, Perle,
_d1882-1975.
_919098
600 1 0 _aTruman, Harry S.,
_d1884-1972
_xFriends and associates.
_919099
600 1 0 _aEisenhower, Dwight D.
_q(Dwight David),
_d1890-1969
_xFriends and associates.
_919100
600 1 0 _aJohnson, Lyndon B.
_q(Lyndon Baines),
_d1908-1973
_xFriends and associates.
_919101
650 0 _aAmbassadors
_zUnited States
_vBiography.
_919102
650 0 _aSocialites
_zWashington (D.C.)
_vBiography.
_96299
650 0 _aSocialites
_zRhode Island
_zNewport
_vBiography.
_919103
650 0 _aWidows
_zWashington (D.C.)
_vBiography.
_919104
651 0 _aWashington (D.C.)
_xSocial life and customs
_y20th century.
_919105
651 0 _aOklahoma
_vBiography.
_919106
906 _a7
_bcbc
_corignew
_d1
_eecip
_f20
_gy-gencatlg
942 _2ddc
_cBOOK
999 _c30343
_d30343