Tiffany and Company - Summer at Tiffany: a memoir

For Marty

Contents

Do you remember the best summer of your life?

I have changed the names of some individuals, and modified identifying features, including physical descriptions, of other individuals in order to preserve their anonymity. In some cases, composite characters have been created or timelines have been compressed in order to further preserve the privacy of dear friends and to maintain narrative flow. References to real people, events, establishments, organizations, or locales have been re-created as I remembered them best from memory. My quest was for accuracy, though it might have been hindered at times by the passage of sixty-odd years. Overall, I sought to protect the privacy of the individuals profiled in these pages and to tell my story to the best of my recollection without damaging the integrity of the story or those who lived it with me.

Summer at Tiffany is the story of a summer that I have never forgotten. Whenever I had a down moment in my life, the simple recollection of memories from the summer of 1945 was always sustaining. From the faint smell of the Hudson River from the top of a bus, to climbing the steps from a dark subway into the light, to the Tiffany show windows of diamonds spilling from velvet cases and the welcoming smile of the gentleman who clocked us in each daythese remembrances of my Summer at Tiffany continue always to embrace me, and bring a smile to my face.

I began writing about that summer in spare moments, on grocery receipts and shopping lists, or on the backs of envelopes in the middle of the night until I began to meet with other writers who encouraged me. In the last few years, through workshops, by mail, or over coffee, I began believing that everyone has a spellbinding story worth tellingsomething these other writers had known all along.

Reconnecting with those who experienced that summer became the most heartwarming part of writing these pages. To find that Martys memory squared with mine was reassuring, and the discovery of new details, the surprises we uncovered, the laughs we enjoyed, erased the years that had passed. I am grateful for the gracious response of the individuals I found after sixty years, their contributions and permission to add new material, cards, and photographs. I wish to protect the privacy of dear friends, and therefore for those I couldnt reach or who are no longer living some names and identifying details have been changed. My quest for accuracy may have been hindered by the passage of sixty-odd years; if so, please excuse my error!

What a golden era writing and publishing Summer at Tiffany has opened up for me and for those who have believed and allowed this story to be told.

There are many individuals who have it made it possible for me to write this story: those who experienced the summer of 1945 with me, the writing of it, and the people who inspired me.

My greatest thanks to Jennifer Pooley, my amazing editor at William Morrow, who discovered my manuscript (by its first ten pages alone) at the San Diego State University Writers Conference, and magically created a book. Her constancy of faith, her insight, and her unfailing enthusiasmfrom New York City to San Diegohas cheered me. Her clarity of vision and perceptive contributions have made my memoir a reality. There would not be a book without her.

To also have the extraordinary talents of Kevin Callahan and Sharyn Rosenblum, as well as their visionary commitment, has been a revelation. Special thanks as well to Emily Fink and to Carla Parker for their passion, to Maryann Petyak for her gift of the catalog presentation, and to Michael Morrison and Lisa Gallagher, who believed from the first two chapters. I am grateful to the entire team at William Morrow for their intelligent guidance of this book through the various channels of their expertise.

My gratitude to Melissa Houtte, who collaborated and brainstormed with me, and made contributions that shaped the manuscript. And to Beverly Trainer, my mentor, who edited and critiqued my drafts and rewrites, for her important contributions, and her insistence that I keep my voice.

My most heartfelt thanks to those who experienced that summer and have shared their recollections so generously.

To Marty, I dedicate this memoir; with her undaunted spirit she lead me through the Fifth Avenue entrance to Tiffany & Co. She has since contributed and recalled details (some to the last penny!) of that unforgettable summer. I also appreciate the interest of her three sons, Bill, Bob, and Jim, as well as Jims wife, and their sons, Matthew and Scott.

A special thank-you to Mickey (Margaret Shuttleworth Vernallis), who found our Manhattan apartment and included us as part of her family. The bond I felt with her mother, a fellow cellist, and her warm hospitality will never be forgotten.

My greatest thanks to Jim, who graciously responded to letters and provided fascinating information. I treasure those fond memories.

My deep gratitude to: Katherine and Dick (Richard) Munsen for their continual support, for information from their book Bail Out Over the Balkans , and for my sisters inspiring writing; and to Phil (Philip) and Diane Jacobson for their encouragement and support and never-to-be-forgotten gift in 1945; to Bill Craig (William Craig III), who recalled the details and kept me in tune with New York City with the ongoing gift of The New Yorker ; to Albert Donhowe, who not only shared the photograph of his brother, Paul, but his memories of Story City events as well. And Kenneth Jansen, whose father was a chauffeur for the Tiffany family and shared memories of when he lived above the Tiffany garage as a young boy.

In addition, my thanks to Becky Ryan, at the SDSU Writers Conference, who diligently paired my manuscript with Jennifer Pooley, and also to Leslie Koch and Steve Dolan for their support.

Thanks to Tiffany & Co., and the unforgettable employees of 1945. Their memory and spirit brighten my day whenever I enter a Tiffany store.

My thanks for the support of those who waded through the early drafts and offered critiques: Gary and Priscilla Haynes, who made corrections and provided constant encouragement; Bill and Nora Smith for their contributions, expertise of Minton China and New York City life, and gourmet meals; Yvonne Nelson Perry, who led and critiqued at her writers workshop in Coronado and her home; Joan Oppenheimer, who advised me to put myself in the story; Susan Reed at the Cuyamaca writers class; Arnold Flick for his ideas; and Lita Manson, Ed Husjak, and the late Bob Michaelis, whose writing I admire.

My inspiration to write this memoir belongs to my family: my daughters, Susan Wilson, Elise Cassidy, and Jane Myers, and their husbands; and my son, Bob Hart, for his wise suggestions; my late husband, William Hart; and my parents, who would have been so proud! My grandchildrenKirsten, Eric, and Katherine Wilson and Jacqueline and Sarah Myershave helped me to remember what it is like to be young. Also Kevin, Cara, Brian, and Erin Cassidy, who critiqued as well. My stepdaughters also encouraged me: thanks to Cynthia Vitas, Lisa Sagat, and Teri Davies and their husbands and children: Alison and Ricky Sagat and Vince, Adam, and Alyssa Davies. Also to my in-laws, Ann and Charles Johnston.

I am especially grateful to my chamber music friends, who kept me grounded and nurtured me with Haydn, Mozart, and my favorite composers.

Finally, my deepest thanks and love to my husband, Peter Cuthbert, my best friend and companion, who read the manuscript, corrected, critiqued (hes a stellar grammarian!), and kept me alive with takeout dinners!