Done & Dunne

In an exciting crossover episode today, Alicia was delighted to speak with author and biographer Andrew Morton about his new release Winston and the Windsors: How Churchill Shaped a Royal Dynasty. Our conversation explores the influence of Winston’s mother Jennie Jerome on his early days, as well as Winston’s relationship with each of the Windsor monarchs including Edward VII, George V, Edward VIII, George VI and Elizabeth II. Our discussion does not stop there – Andrew shares many stories about the royal family and his own adventures in reporting.

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We continue our journey in Newport, Rhode Island this week, but veer off of Bellevue Avenue for this JFK mystery. Hammersmith Farm, the Auchincloss home, is our destination, and 1963 is the time period we focus upon. There is a whole lot happening in the summer of 1963 for JFK, both politically and personally. Where do you think he would find the idea, and have the time to film a home movie predicting his own assassination this summer?

This week begins the deep dive into this JFK mystery, with so many sticky spiderwebs into the world of Ian Fleming his James Bond character, Newport high society, and premonitions too.

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With the sad passing of Diane Keaton today, we remember her legacy in this one from the vault. This long ago episode delves into the one and only Diane Keaton, and all her spiderwebs!

Dominick Dunne interviewed Keaton in 1985, in both New York City and Los Angeles, and this piece provides so much sub-text to so much of Hollywood. Certainly, the story is about the reclusive Diane Keaton, but also leads into our investigation Woody Allen, Mia Farrow, Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and many, many more!

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The architect Stanford White is credited with a host of landmark structures in Newport, New York City, and beyond. But it was his sexual predation of young girls, especially the young model and showgirl Evelyn Nesbit, that led to his shockingly public murder and the 1907 "Trial of the Century" in its aftermath.

The who was never in question. Harry K. Thaw was the culprit. It was Harry’s motive for the crime, defending his young wife Evelyn, that fascinated the public. Included in today’s investigation is a whole heap of New York City history, from newspapers to theaters, as well as high society figures, sexual secrets, professional jealousies, and courtroom dramas - all set against a landscape designed by the actual victim of the crime.

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Alicia climbs on her literary soapbox in this episode, the last to cover in our Big Four Spiderwebs episodes. Ginevra King was F. Scott’s Fitzgerald’s first love, and oh my – did she stick to his heart and writing for years, also with a little plagiarism too. This one is a literary spiderweb that Alicia will always be mad about and sheds additional light into Scott’s psyche through the years.

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If you like golf, this is definitely the episode of The Big Four for you! Edith Cummings is the gal in our spotlight in this episode, and she led quite a life. Edith was one of the premier amateur golfers during the Jazz Age popularly known as the Fairway Flapper. Not only that, but Edith Cummings was also the inspiration for the character Jordan Baker in F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. It truly does all connect.

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Holy cats! In this episode we meet the second of our Big Four, Courtney Louise Letts. Courtney was beautiful, glamorous and voted one of the world’s best dressed women. Courtney was also married four times, with some distinguished husbands including explorer John Borden and international diplomat Felipe de Espil. Her story includes way more than fashion and romantic love. Courtney was also a distinguished author of nature and diplomatic histories.

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In a departure from Newport this week, we are taking a detour to Lake Forest, Illinois to discover The Big Four. The Big Four was a Girl Gang unlike any other. These daughters of privilege are Margaret Carry, Courtney Letts, Edith Cummings, and Ginevra King, and each has her own special story.

Today, we explore the origins of this quartet of lifelong female friendship as well as the life of Margaret “Peg” Carry, daughter of the onetime president of the Pullman Company. Peg’s life was fairly conventional, but the kidnapping of her husband (Edward A. Cudahy) as a child is the real showstopper. This case, including the manhunt and criminal trail set American precedent long before the days where child kidnapping of rich men became popular.

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In this episode we continue our tour through Newport, Rhode Island, looking at the last block of Bellevue Avenue with Miramar as our focus today. Completed in 1914, Eleanor Elkins Widener finished this grand Gilded Age home to honor her husband George Widener, lost on the R.M.S. Titanic in 1912.

The Widener family is a big deal in high society, specifically Philadelphia, and although the couple never lived in their dream home together. Eleanor will keep the home in the family and marry again to Alexander Hamilton Rice Jr., living many happy days at Miramar. After passing from the Widener family, the home does serve as a school for a brief time, although it slides back into being a private residence soon enough. There is some late breaking news about this home which is great for museum loving folks – Miramar is slated in its future to become part of the Newport Preservation Society. There is tons of history in this one that will attach in the next episode. It really does all connect.

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Pulitzer Prize winning novelist Edith Wharton came by her subject matter the old-fashioned way: she was born into a prominent New York City family, and was subjected to the mores of the city's high society circle from birth. This did not suit the plain, brainy young Edith even a little bit, much to her mother's horror, but Edith did eventually submit to an extremely unhappy marriage to a diagnosed megalomaniac (!), which ended in, you guessed it, a trashy divorce. But this episode contains way more than Edith’s life, writing and love affairs. We also explore the Gilded Age society that Edith lives in, but it is her aunt who really makes that society. Mrs. Mary Mason Jones is quite the OG legend in New York City, and the entire reason for the phrase “keeping up with the Joneses”. Also included are Mrs. Paran Stevens, Oscar Wilde, a set of international locations, many love affairs, and a whole lot of Newport too.

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