Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Brooke Astor Dies

Brooke Astor died August 14 at the age of 105. As the heiress of the John Jacob Astor fortune, the only significant thing Mrs. Astor ever did was to contribute to various worthy causes in New York City.

As often happens when the rich die, Astor's relatives are now competing for her money. In this instance, her son and her grandson are going after each other for the big bucks. If either of them ever made any contribution to society, it remains a secret.

Brooke Astor once said that she regretted not seeing the men who used to "walk down Fifth Avenue in top hats." This regret was curiously self-serving, given that John Jacob Astor built his fortune buying and selling the beaver pelts that were used to make top hats.

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