Brooke Astor

An iconic symbol

I loved Brooke Astor and looked up to her for so many reasons. She was a great philanthropist who coined the phrase that money is like manure and not good unless you spread it around. Could be because her third husband left her an astounding $500 million way back when she was widowed. Brooke was always exceptionally elegant and appropriately attired. She once said I would not be caught dead in one thing: a dress with a slit up the side. She was famous for the emeralds she sported with such aplomb and ease as if she had been born in them. For me, Brooke became an iconic symbol in this fast paced world of a sensible conservative woman wearing her Oscar de la Renta suits with white gloves and walking stick coupled with strong values, morals and ethics.On the cover photo of her biography by Frances Kiernan called 'The Last Mrs Astor' she is wearing a beautiful emerald green ballgown that could easily be a Charles James creation. Brooke looks like a figurine...and that is how I wil remember her a beautiful woman body and soul and a beautiful and indomitable spirit that graced the world - to do good and make us think about our determination.

Elizabeth V, Canada - 16 August 2007