âThe lawn at Merrywood in a truly merry mood ⌠amidst the alien tulle of a thousand bridesmaids. In this lineup I see many familiar faces in what looks to be a platoon of Amazons carrying bouquets of flowers.â Photo from the wedding of Vidalâs half-sister, Nina Gore Auchincloss, to future Republican Congressman Newton Steers of Maryland on June 6, 1957: From left: Catherine Mellon (Warner), Paula Coudert, Binney White, Nonie Phipps, Elizabeth Guest (Stevens), Janet Auchincloss (Rutherfurd), Nina Auchincloss, Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy (Onassis), Julie Hamm (Finley), Cornelia Roberts (Countess von Coudenhove), Alita âBinkieâ von Laer Reventlow, Nancy Ingersoll, Elinor White (Montgomery), and Pamela Davis.
âThe lads of Merrywood.â The assembled groomsmen from left: Dick Wilmer, unidentified man, Al Hudes, Michael Straight (Nina Auchinclossâs second husband), Gore Vidal, Paul Rogers, Hugh D. (âYushaâ) Auchincloss III, James âJamieâ Auchincloss, Sen. John F. Kennedy, and Merle Thorpe. Missing are John Warner and Ted Hartley. (Collection Gore Vidal)
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Vidal on horseback at Merrywood, 1930s. (The Gore Vidal Papers/By permission of the Houghton Library, Harvard University)
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