This past Wednesday the Huntsville Museum of Art hosted an icon of epic proportions, Gloria Vanderbilt. Some of you may know her as mom to a certain CNN reporter Anderson Cooper, but long before that Prada wearing cutie was covering the news his mother was making headlines and turning heads.

And I chatted with her!
Gloria Vanderbilt:
heiress, painter, muse, designer, model, writer, entrepreneur, actor, socialite, survivor, icon

At the post lecture reception (a great perk of these lectures) Gloria and I got to chatting (those who know me will not find this at all difficult to believe I’m sure) and she said (I’m quoting)

“You are so enthusiastic! I just love it!”
-Gloria Vanderbilt on Larkin Grant

I kinda thought I’d faint right then and there. [spacer size=”10″]

Why Gloria Came to Visit Me

Other than dropping by to visit me (obviously! that’s why all the celebs come to town), Gloria came to town as part of the Huntsville Museum of Art‘s lecture series, Voices of Our Time. Speaking along with Gloria was Wendy Goodman, the author of the latest (and what most critics call definitive) biography, The World of Gloria Vanderbilt.

The Lecture aka The Parade of Wonders

I’ve been to many a lecture in my day, (college anyone?) but this was unlike any lecture I’ve ever attended. The hour flew by in a rapid succession of amazing wonder. Photo after photo flew by on the screen. Story after amazing story. The Prince of Wales. Gloria’s childhood pal. No biggie. Salvador Dali and Gloria at a surliest costume party (if this does not strike you as ironic, click on Dali’s name and find out why it is SO amazing). Both Wendy and Gloria spoke in turns, though it was always quite easy to tell who was speaking. Gloria’s tone of voice having such a simultaneous regal and gentle tone to it.

Voices of Our Time

You still have a chance to catch the last lecture in the Voices of Our Time series. I can’t promise that you’ll get to be best friends like Gloria and I (I’m just kind of awesome like that), but I can promise that you’ll be in for an amazing lecture. The Museum has lined up Betty C. Monkman to close out this great series on March 29th. Betty served more than thirty years in the Office of the Curator (yup that’s the White House). Get your tickets here.

“Art is communication. We are all connected and it makes me happy when I reach a person through my vision.”
-Gloria Vanderbilt

All About Gloria Vanderbilt

She studied acting with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City.
Her performances are part of the collection of the American Museum of Broadcasting in New York City.
Johnny Carson featured her artwork on The Tonight Show
Speaking of TV shows, Gloria is close friends with Kathy Griffin, who co-hosts CNN’s New Year’s countdown with her son Anderson Cooper.
She was one of the first designers to travel to department stores to introduce her collections
In 1970, she was entered in the Fashion Hall of Fame
Her collage Memory has been issued as a lithograph and postage stamp by the United Nations to commemorate the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) campaign to provide effective immunization for all children.
Her great-great grandfather Cornelius Vanderbilt amassed the Vanderbilt fortune in the shipping and railroad industries.
Her aunt launched a famous battle for custody of Gloria when she was a child (Gloria’s father died when she was 18 months old). This story was turned into a 1982 miniseries for NBC entitled Little Gloria… Happy at Last, which was nominated for six Emmys and a Golden Globe.

The World of Gloria Vanderbilt

“Perhaps the definitive-and certainly the most visually stunning book to capture her incredible life.”
-The Huffington Post

Gloria Vanderbilt brought the Vanderbilt name out of the Gilded Age and into the Digital Age, reinventing herself over and over along the way. Hers is a story of charisma, glamour, and heartbreaking loss, told here by Wendy Goodman, who had intimate access to Vanderbilt for this book. The illustrations include portraits of Vanderbilt and her extraordinary homes, filled with original and influential decorating ideas, by such photographic legends as Richard Avedon, Louise Dahl-Wolfe, Inge Morath, Horst P. Horst, Francesco Scavullo, and Annie Leibovitz. Vanderbilt’s son, Anderson Cooper, contributes a foreword.

Review from Abrams