Obituary
Philanthropist and Social Doyenne Brooke Astor Dies at 105
August 14, 2007 – Philanthropist, social doyenne, symbol of WASP aristocracy, Brooke Astor was a New York icon.
And her longevity was as much a part of her immense legacy as anything. Astor died Monday afternoon at age 105 of pneumonia, according to Kenneth E. Warner, the attorney for her son, Anthony Marshall. Funeral arrangements were not completed by press time. But her tombstone, according to her wishes, will be inscribed with the simple but apt words, "I had a wonderful life," her son said in a statement.
That life was the stuff of romance novels. She was tall (5 foot 7 inches), slender and vivacious. The late historian Arthur Schlesinger Jr. said she had "the look and spirit of a gamine." She was married three times (once divorced, twice widowed), lived in exotic locales as a child and lavish ones later on, wrote two memoirs ("Patchwork Child: Early Memories" and "Footprints") and two novels ("The Bluebird Is at Home" and "The Last Blossom on the Plum Tree"), was a magazine editor, had her poetry published in The New Yorker, spoke Chinese before she was 10 and never graduated from high school. She read English and French literature and loved to dance.
"Brooke was a great philanthropist, and a great lady, and we'll not see the likes of her again," said former first lady Nancy Reagan. "Brooke was very close to my entire family—I've known her since I was 14. In fact, when my mother died, Brooke told me, 'I know no one can replace your mother, Nancy, but I'd like to try.' "
"No one will ever replace her," said the social historian Barbara Goldsmith, a longtime friend of Astor's. "She was unique because she had a broad vision and she was not at all interested in self-aggrandizement. She was interested in making things better for other people. Something she repeated at almost every speech was the advice her mother gave her: 'Now Brooke, don't ever get above yourself.' "
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