Marjorie Merriweather Post: The Life Behind the Luxury

A fresh and focused look at a powerful, glamorous, businesswoman, told through her own words and actions rather through the lens of husbands or fathers. Marjorie Merriweather Post led an extraordinary three-estate lifestyle detailed in the book Living Artfully: At Home with Marjorie Merriweather Post. Now, in The Life Behind the Luxury, Chung adds an array of delightful details, including the "Travel Luxe" chapter of journeys by private railcar, personal yachts, and customized aircraft. Post's life was indeed one of luxury. Chung goes further, however, in revealing Post not only to be an elegant public figure, but also an astute business executive, and a deeply caring humanitarian and philanthropist. In her remarkably led life, Post had not only had a concert venue named in her honour, but a body of water as well. The Life Behind the Luxury reveals how Marjorie Post, indeed, enjoyed herself most of the time. Post wrote, "I do like beautiful things and it has been my privilege to be able to enjoy them ... also, I like a smoothly running organisation." AUTHOR: Estella Chung serves as curator, co-chair of exhibitions, and the director of collections - encompassing collections management, the special collections library, and the archives - at Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens in Washington, D.C. She is an alumnus of the Attingham Summer School for the study of country houses, and is trained in American Studies and Museum Studies. 276 colour illustrations