Reflected Glory: The Life of Pamela Churchill HarrimanEnglish debutante Pamela Digby first came into the public eye when she married Churchill's dissolute son Randolph. While he was overseas in World War II, she had an affair with Averell Harriman, the first in a line of wealthy and prominent men - including Jock Whitney, Prince Aly Khan, Gianni Agnelli, Elie de Rothschild, and Stavros Niarchos - who supported her over the next two decades. She found legitimacy as the wife of Broadway producer Leland Hayward and became wealthy when she married Harriman on the eve of his eightieth birthday. At age sixty she reinvented herself as a kingmaker in the Democratic Party, and more than a decade later was rewarded with an appointment as U.S. Ambassador to France. Smith details how Pamela Harriman, even after she had become independent and respectable to a degree that would have been unimaginable in her party-girl years, burned through the Harriman fortune, prompting her late husband's disgruntled heirs to file a series of lawsuits accusing her of being a "faithless fiduciary". Always a brass-knuckle fighter, she made headlines with a barrage of ironic countersuits - against the family whose name elevated her to Democratic doyenne, the Wall Street brokerage that provided her wealth, and the advisers who had guided her every move. At each stage of Pamela's life, newspapers and magazines recounted her public exploits and amplified her legend. The private moments were equally indelible: playing bezique late at night with Winston Churchill, enlisting Dwight Eisenhower to help in the kitchen at her officers' club during World War II, presiding over lavish dinners at the Riviera estate of Gianni Agnelli, fixing chicken hash at midnight for Leland Haywardand his Broadway stars, talking one-on-one with Bill Clinton in the Oval Office. |
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Page 251
... asked about the jewelry after the sale of the Fifth Avenue apartment in 1969 , and Pamela had assured her the pieces ... asking . " Pamela was evasive , " said Brooke . " She said she couldn't find them . She said she had given my father ...
... asked about the jewelry after the sale of the Fifth Avenue apartment in 1969 , and Pamela had assured her the pieces ... asking . " Pamela was evasive , " said Brooke . " She said she couldn't find them . She said she had given my father ...
Page 329
... asked Pam to contribute to something or grease the way for you , almost by return mail you would get an affirmative answer , but you would know you would be asked to do something in return , " said Barbara Howar . " She saved favors ...
... asked Pam to contribute to something or grease the way for you , almost by return mail you would get an affirmative answer , but you would know you would be asked to do something in return , " said Barbara Howar . " She saved favors ...
Page 372
... asked Schlesinger to convey her disapproval to Amory , which he did over lunch in Manhattan . Amory chastised Schlesinger for failing to defend her to Pamela . Instead of backing down , Amory renewed her determination . Nigel Dempster ...
... asked Schlesinger to convey her disapproval to Amory , which he did over lunch in Manhattan . Amory chastised Schlesinger for failing to defend her to Pamela . Instead of backing down , Amory renewed her determination . Nigel Dempster ...
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Common terms and phrases
Abramson Agnelli American Anita Colby asked Averell Harriman Beaverbrook Bill Hayward Brooke Hayward Brown called Carter Churchill letter Clark Clifford Clifford Clinton daughter Democratic Diana dinner Elie embassy father French gave Gianni Gianni Agnelli girls guests Harry heirs husband Ibid Interview with Bill Interview with Brooke Interview with Peter Interview with Winston Janet Howard Kitty knew Kuruc Lady Digby later Lauren Bacall Leland Hayward Leland Hayward letter Leonora Hornblow letter to Marie LH-NYPL living Lloyd Cutler London lunch Marie Brenner Marie Harriman marriage married Mary Fisk million Minterne months Mortimer mother Murrow Nancy Lutz never night Ogden Pamela Churchill Pamela Harriman PamPAC Paris party Peter Duchin political recalled Robert Rothschild Sarah Norton seemed Senate Slim social talk told took TT-L USNY Wachner WAH-LC wanted Washington weekend wife William Walton Willow Oaks Winston Churchill woman women wrote York