Last of the Grande Dames

Gloria Vanderbilt has died at the age of 95.

She's best known today as the mother of uber-newsman Anderson Cooper (product of her fourth marriage) but Ms. Vanderbilt had a life worth a novel or two -- in fact, she was allegedly the inspiration for Holly Golightly in Truman Capote's Breakfast at Tiffany's.

Gloria was born to wealth and married wealth -- several times. She acted, she models, she wrote, she designed clothes, she was a socialite in the vein of Brooke Astor and a grande dame, a great lady of NYC, like her friend Jackie Kennedy (who died 25 years ago last month). 

She was a true Renaissance woman and apparently also quite the lover: Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra were just a couple of her lovers. 

I think what separates the Gloria Vanderbilts from the "socialites" of today was the idea of refinement, elegance, conscientious beauty -- dare I say it, "class." She was the last of her kind, the last of the grand dames of NYC, and she will be missed.