Summer Author Series with Nancy Rubin Stuart

American Empress: The Life and Times of Marjorie Merriweather Post

American Empress is a sweeping history of the dramatic life of the much-married heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post, the daughter of breakfast-cereal magnate C. W. Post and the builder of her estate Mar-A-Lago. Now in paperback, this widely acclaimed, best-selling book is the original biography of Mrs. Post and includes interviews with her relatives and friends.

As a young girl growing up in the Midwest, Marjorie Post helped glue cereal boxes in her father’s barn, later became a board member of his company, wed a diplomat, and by late middle age was widely acknowledged as the unofficial “Queen of Washington, D.C.”

The glamorous and warm-hearted Mrs. Post was also the mother to actress Dina Merrill. Throughout her life, she gave generously to hundreds of civic, artistic, and philanthropic causes, among which were the National Symphony Orchestra, the Washington Ballet, and the Kennedy Center. By virtue of her brains, beauty, and great wealth, Mrs. Post was a woman well ahead of her era, whose natural business acumen created the frozen foods industry and helped transform the Postum Cereal Company into the General Foods Corporation where she became a director.