Brooke Astor Finding a gracious and stylish way out of every problem

CORNWALL — She wasn’t really the “Last Mrs. Astor,� as the book title suggests. But biographer Frances Kiernan saw in Brooke Astor a woman who defined what that name came to symbolize. She was remarkable not really because of her wealth and social standing, or even her philanthropy, but because she managed to pull herself up out of miserable situations that had nothing to do with money. And she did it with style and graciousness.

Kiernan subtitled her book “A New York Story� for good reason. She opens by explaining that along with a predecessor, Caroline Schermerhorn Astor, Brooke Astor “...loomed large in the imaginations of fellow New Yorkers. Both recognized that New York was a city that thrived on self-invention — a city where the cut of your suit could count for more than the place you came from.�

Kiernan, a former editor of The New Yorker, first met Brooke Astor in 1999 when the doyenne of New York society was 97. They had lunch at the sumptuous Hotel Carlyle on Madison Avenue. Kiernan was there as a favor to a former colleague, who thought she might help Astor, an accomplished writer herself, put together some memoirs for Vanity Fair magazine.

Kiernan had just completed a 10-year project of her own: a lengthy biography of writer Mary McCarthy.

“The last thing I wanted was to get involved with another project like that,� Kiernan said. “But in the course of that lunch, Brooke Astor totally charmed me. There was no talk of writing anything. When we parted she said we were going to be good friends, but I never heard from her. She was not the kind of person who said things like that without meaning them, but she was getting on. “

Kiernan said Astor’s charm came from the fact that she truly thought everyone, from servants to fellow socialites and dignitaries, was potentially interesting.

Kiernan headed to the library and took out all of Astor’s books. She quickly realized she was a very good writer who didn’t need her help; but in the course of their meetings, she was inspired to write about her.

Her dilemma: How to depict the life of a woman who at that point had nearly a century of living (and a very full life) under her belt.

She devised an outline that began with her childhood, Astor’s first marriage at 17 and the birth of her son, Tony Marshall. She wanted to bulk of the book to focus on the 37 years Astor personally administered the distribution of nearly $200 million through the Vincent Astor Foundation, named for her late husband.

“In the 1970s, when New York City was going down the tubes, on the verge of bankruptcy, Brooke found the money to keep the museums going,� Kiernan recalled. “She recruited young people to work in Central Park to keep it beautiful. She recognized the impact libraries have on neighborhoods and helped branches all over the city. She was like the Queen Mum during the Blitz.�

She had interviewed Astor numerous times, but at that point, found her to be failing. Kiernan turned to Astor’s own memoirs and a league of well-known New Yorkers who knew her well.

When terrorists attacked in September 2001, Kiernan had been “dragging my feet� on the book for about a year. She was inspired anew by how Astor remained in the city while her social circle headed elsewhere.

But it was the November 2007 indictment of Tony Marshall, on numerous counts of mismanaging his mother’s fortune and care, that moved the book onto the fast track.

Knowing the scandal would prompt a glut of books about the trial, Kiernan’s editors at Norton asked her to finish the book in just a few months, so they could publish without having to taint it with inclusion of such a horrible last episode in Astor’s life.

Kiernan left her own active social life in New York to stay full time in the Milton home she shares with her husband, Howard, a doctor. He came on the weekends to give invaluable help by taking care of the laundry and marketing. Her orange tabby cat, Billy, was her silent critic.

“I didn’t leave Milton for four months until that book was done,� she said.

Kiernan addresses the Marshall court case in an afterward in the paperback version of the book, and also recounts Brooke Astor’s funeral following her death in August 2007.

Kiernan will appear at the Cornwall Free Library Saturday, July 12 at 4 p.m. to talk about her books and sign copies.

She typically finds mostly women come to the many readings she has been invited to. She loves hearing their questions and has come to realize they see Astor as she does: a woman who was strong and independent, yet was the embodiment of gentility.

“Good manners were always important. It was how her generation was raised and how she lived her life. A lot of mothers are buying the book for their daughters as a guide for life. Astor didn’t always have a lot of money, but whatever her situation, she found a way to make the best of it.�