Mitchell kaplan has been a staunch supporter from the beginning and i can honestly say literally if not for him i would not be here. He owns the place after all. [laughter] it has been a great ride iou books and books so much its wonderful to have cspan here taping the show tonight this is big time. Before i get any further along lifetime new yorker declares himself florida resident he must have read the book. [laughter] because weve known about this development for quite a while. [laughter] hes not here yet . Save him a seat in the back. [laughter] the fact is i had a make it very clear to my editor and publisher that i was not intending to write about donald trump and i went up there to talk to them next year there is a big tellall book with the white house is coming out with what georgeanne morgan wanted was a tell nothing book and i told them mine was a story of a place and he would have to be in there but dont worry we were all the same page and off we went and the result is palm beach, maralago, and the rise of americas xanadu. If you were to ask me what type of book it is its actually the story of a place and the people who made it what it is. Pointing to a favorite of mine a few years back entitled philistines at the hitch row how the hamptons came to be the favorite summer hideaway for the rich and famous. So David Mccullough and dominic dunn to tell you how palm beach rose from nothing to man grove swap over the past 100 years and it is really something of a sequel to a book that i published called last train to paradise which is now in its 38 their 39h printing coming out in 2002. As i was doing the research for that book focusing on the opening of the book i came across so many stories that i just could not find a place for. And i filed those away. Then 15 years later when trump is elected and refers to maralago as the southern white house i said that was Marjorie Merriweather post was the idea all along and said what else do you know . And then the next thing you know i have the idea for my next book. So with that preamble, let me shift gears a little bit. Used to think if you are lucky enough to write a book and find a publisher you could retire to your chambers and write another. But i discovered thats not exactly how it works. The publisher expects you to go out help sell the thing. Is not like my mom coming to nice places like this you have an interest but sometimes it goes further. Just as that first book of narrative history last train went to press they called me up to say theres a good chance you are on one of the morning news shows. But and you find out there is always a but on this and they said they needed a news angle. A news angle . All the book happened 100 years ago. [laughter] yeah yeah but they need a news angle so come up with wanting get back to me. So i had to retire to my chambers instead of working on the next book i had to come up with the news angle that happened 100 years before. The fact is i had a very difficult time doing that. But i was bound and determined to prove if given the chance to have a talk with Charlie Gibson that was still the anchor on the show and a big reader he like to have writers on the show that he really liked. I was bound and determined to show i could have an interesting conversation about this book so i sat down and wrote my externalized appearance just in case the real thing never happened sad to say it never did but i was so happy the way my version of events had turned out. [laughter] i decided to take it with me on tour everywhere and it turned out so well happily ever after i decided i will not even wait for the possibility of an actionable interview on Good Morning America i will go straight to my version of this event. So tonight now we have book tv here already its almost the real thing if you will grant me that time honored favor of your disbelief imagine there is a big tv screen up here that surrounds me and the breathless recap of the president s previous 24 hours of tweets has just ended. [laughter] and the commercial has faded softly away in the next voice is Charles Gibson still in anchorman still reading books and still interviewing authors. Most americans are familiar with rockefeller or his name one synonymous with wealth and memorialized in new york state but how many could name his original Business Partner . The man rockefeller identified the brains of the outfit . The fact is flagler left standard oil at age 50 board with pumping oil and went to a new career in railroading and Land Development to the littleknown state of florida. Flaglers vision was to account for the transformation of the entire seaboard into what it is today a mecca for tourist and retirees and those seeking the good life jacksonville to miami and all the way to key west. But nowhere is it more powerfully rendered than in palm beach that was more than scrubs and mangroves for when he visited in the 18 nineties. Within 20 years flagger flagler had turned into the hideaway of the privileged was the former residence packing up and heading south. When they built their fabulous maralago to stay in the 19 twenties marjorie and ef hutton established resort architecture in the nation and to this day palm beach is the winter hideaway for the ultra privileged. Here today to talk about the uninhabited Barrier Island a thousand miles away and how to become the new port of the south of the status and celebrity is les standiford. [applause] the author of palm beach, maralago, and the rise of americas xanadu and there you have it. That is a great thing about a writer you can just redo reality. Charlie, you have written about historical topics with the involvement of the bloodiest labor strike in history and the real story behind chinatown. Moving the entire river down the state of california. Answer well charlie, if you had me on your show in 2002 you would remember last train to paradise with Henry Flagler who set out to built a railroad from key west that is a fiction i have been drawn to real stories about largerthanlife individuals with onceinalifetime event last train put us on an engineering marvel primarily but a lot came across while i was doing my research i just cannot work into the book. This is a sequel or finally had the opportunity to explore the societal impact from the florida frontier. Many people are important went down to florida in flaglers wake. Question youre talking about marjorie post from the post serial fortune. Answer. She was one of those largerthanlife individuals along with her husband at the time mister ef hutton but there have been quite a few before her as it turns out palm beach was already the place to see and be seen in American Social circles. Question because . Answer because of Henry Flaglers own fascination with the place he was a poor kid lacking in education who pulled himself up from his bootstraps and turned into a workaholic and never traveled in his fifties he was forced into vacation with an ailing wife and got his first look at palm trees and surf and was transformed he spent the rest of his life consumed with the notion everyone else with the slightest bit of wherewithal would like florida as much as he did. He eventually came to call it his domain and the pinnacle of it all was palm beach at the dawn of the 20th century the 42 room building on the port side and he created express Train Service from penn station in manhattan to get there. There had never been such a thing as a winter getaway to florida and the welltodo were clamoring to get there. After flagler built the 75 room palace in 19 oh four with his new 34 yearold bride was hosting grand parties through the winter season the rest of the members of the northeast socialite buying property on the island and doing their best to outdo each other. Question flagler was profiting mightily . Answer not really you can guess right about palm beach but flagler was beyond keeping score he took more pleasure and having to develop the eastern seaboard in a place where people live and prosper for the last years of his life he was focused on extending the railroad from miami to key west. Question did they ever meet . Answer they did not. Her first visit came after flaglers death but then the twenties had began to roar and ef had moved there which was a true frenzy of activity in palm beach sewing machine error singer hired an architect on architect to decide on design the Everglades Club he was a character as much as an architect 300 pounds and stroll around town with a monkey or parrot on his shoulder and approaches work as if you were building stories as much as houses the mediterranean revival design would transform and dominate more architecture in the nation in the century to come. Question and the huttons snapped up meisner . He was busy marjorie one of the worlds richest women was always looking for Something Different a chance conversation led to her choice as urban for her architect for maralago unlike any other structure that it continues to amaze to this day in the ali baba setting raining in palm beach culture for more than 40 years until the day she died with all those luminaries. Question a moral force even couples off the dance floor pulled off that they were getting too close or suggestive. Yes progress stemmed from the fact her father ran off with the secretary when she was young she idolized him and that was a disappointment later she had to put up with a series of indiscretions from hutton when she discovered later in life the man she married was cheating on her with another fellow from the opposite team was too much to bear but she never lost interest in men. Even pushing 80 she would quarrel with her daughters the actress nina merrill about wanting to date as she put it youre not one has to sit around this place all night. Question but she never lost interest in that estate. Answer she loved and was worried it would be torn down after she died. She tried to give it to the state and the federal government to be used as a retreat for vips or a southern white house but those attempts foundered owing to the expense to keep it up 5 milliondollar a year on utilities. Question that is how the current owner came into its possession . Be my to get the full answer you will have to read the book but i will tell you when you find out exactly how it happened just how much changed cash change and youll say thats all worth the price. I will tell you one story from the current file. If you were to pick up one of the 200,000dollar Club Memberships are invited to a function of the bar the former Library Things in oil portrait a notable one of trump himself younger it is the work of ralph wolf a virginian transplanted according to a knowledgeable staff member to produce the painting without prior consultation with the subject and had it delivered to maralago suggesting that trump take a look. He did and liked his rendition very much but there was something about it needing to be discussed. Trump got him on the phone and told him, she liked the paintin painting. Thats great he replied its all yours. But you left out one of my hands he said its just a white space where my left hand out to be. There was a pause on the other end of the line. O if you want me to add the hand that will cost you 10000. [laughter] only the two masters of the manor mrs. Post and donald trump thats correct its that empty for a number of years then trump made his home for several years after he bought it turned into a club to save it because he fell on hard times he loved living there i spoke to the chief of staff to both regime and i thought his stories are priceless. They are in the book. That and a lot more. I do have a recurring fantasy the current owner wakes up in the masters chambers one night to find the ghost of mrs. Post to set him straight on a few things glad to take it out when Charles Dickens already used that plot. [laughter] question maybe we could do with a rerun but when all said and done what about reading your book . First i grew up as a bluecollar kid with the rich and powerful were always fascinating and mysterious people were interested how they maneuver inside the rooms at the top but also at the end of the day even the gland grand and glorious face the same problems marjorie post one of the richest women in the world never could find the right man and she had a stiff upper lip much of her life trying to do good things and present what she thought was a proper example. Beyond that while palm beach is almost impossible grand and glorious far beyond most of us are unlikely to live you say the same thing about taj mahal. The fact such places have come to be created the fact they even exist as inspirational in and of itself. The fact is you could go down to xanadu right now and play in the serve stroll the streets and shop the shops and stay at the Breakers Hotel there is no fence around palm beach the beauty is there for the taking. Question fascinating stuff. Wish we had you on the show a lot sooner. [laughter] my pleasure charlie. Commercial. [laughter] [applause] thank you have a little slideshow ill run through and then if you have any questions or comments i will take them. This is a map of florida 1849 i think it pretty much look this way when flagler came you could draw a line across the state from tampa south of the line there wasnt much there it even had terra incognito that gives you some idea of the magnitude of the change taking place in 150 years or less and flagler certainly is responsible for most of that change from jacksonville down to key west. There is a picture of the man himself i wrote a piece for bright line is a guess everybody in south florida knows flagler maybe flagler street but even my daughter had to explain Flagler College is named after him Everybody Knows rockefeller but not flagler because he was modest and didnt care about selfaggrandizement even though he was quite a philanthropist and did a lot of things he brought the railroad as far north as miami those that lived wanted to rename the place flagler out of gratitude instead of the river that runs through the place and that is typical of why a lot of people dont know a lot about him. This is how that Railroad Work got done there was no heavy equipment shovels and wheelbarrows just a hole for a palm tree in your backyard you know backbreaking labor especially hot and mosquitoes 353 miles jacksonville to hear another hundred 53 from here to key west and that last was mostly over open water. This is the first hotel that flagler built in florida and saint augustine. A Magnificent Hotel and he repeated the process all the way down the eastern seaboard so his friends could get there the first place they came does Ponce De Leon and then found out he had the real jewel this is the poinciana it was a wooden structure that doesnt do so well in this climate and it no longer exist the last part was torn down in the thirties. On the oceanside on the palm beach and people liked it so much and that it became the breakers but it burned down in 1800 and then again 1926 the third time it was replaced with concrete fireproof looking exactly like it does today. What has been refurbished on the inside but on the outside that is what it looks like to this day. There it is. The view from the ocean. His second wife is an interesting character could be the subject of a book herself in the first wife was ill with tuberculosis and passed away. Flagler married ida that she was not prepared for the pressures to ascend to that level of society. One of the fascinations is that of the ouija board and was convinced she was communicating with a number of influential people talking to them and in particular the crown prince of russia who had proposed to her. That flagler would have to die so she and the crown prince could be together. She didnt try to murder flagler but she did set upon her psychiatrist with kitchen shears and wounded him remanded to sanitarium from which she never even urge. Flagler set the endowment for her that surpassed what was necessary. She outlived him for almost 20 years and died in the thirties and one of the headlines when she passed away is worlds richest Insane Person dies. [laughter] a lot of interesting stories about her. There at 72 the influential prominent family at 34 that the eight years that they spent together were very happy together. But flagler asked what she would like for a wedding gift she said i always wanted a marble palace. So he got her one. So the first grand domicile on the island of palm beach. But this is what changed everything is the establishment the concept people could actually live for the extended. Than the grand entertainment that they threw blew everyone away. It does still exist it is meticulous if you have never been there i commend it to you just as i do the Breakers Hotel. It turned out her will have been rewritten giving him significant portion of the proceeds which he used after death i. E. Louisville courier and general and found a newspaper empire. Sally binghams wrote a book a tell all book about that. Kind of interesting. This is how you got around in palm beach. For a number of years cars were not allowed on the island because predominantly and ended up africanamericans were ran the bicycle behind there on these houses that became ab you couldnt bring your car there wasnt any way to get your car over there and they were bad, there were no roads. Flagler was a teetotaler but he was also something of a pragmatist. A guy named er bradley came down establish the casino gambling where people could have a few drinks dance and gamble a bit. Bradley beach club was a big hit in palm beach and flagler sort of look the other way. Didnt like it but on the other hand folks his folks. Cw post founded the postserial postcoffee drink and post toastys empire he was something of a hypochondriac himself and had gone to battle creek because of health sanatoriums up there. And then develop his own line of what he called health foods and became very wealthy never had any other children then marjorie. Mightve wanted a son but he made do with her he would bring her to board meetings and when she was 14 she would sit at the board table. He would insist on asking her decisions. She was quite bright. Although you might imagine that wrangled the businessman who sat on the board at the time. It gave her a Good Business chronic. She eventually took over following cw post death she took over the company which eventually and remains to this day general foods. And how she became one of the worlds most wealthy women. There she is young woman obviously quite beautiful. There is ef hutton in 1,920 at the height of his powers. They really were that living emblem of the roaring 20s. People thought they were the living end. When they came to palm beach it raised things to yet another level. Sociologically. In terms of thats the place to be if you are going to hang out with the special people. They came down apparently the beginnings of the high life the real high life paris singer the heir to the sewing machine fortune hired meisner to design the club which is still there, still very much a force in palm beach life. That set things on the road and thats one of the things that drew the huttons. Down there to that social winter social swirl. There had never been a winter getaway before. They had never been such a thing as a winter getaway to florida because literally there was nothing to getaway to. There was no place nothing to come to. There is meisner. You cant really see his pile up on his shoulder in this rendition but gives you some sense of what he was. He was quite the balmy avery interesting guy. Very interesting books have been written about him. If youre interested in architecture. This is one of his creations he said there are some areas around this island that remind me of venice. He developed one palace that looks like it juts right up out of the water like it might be a venetian palazzo. A lot of architectural writing about the significance of mara lago. The huttons were into houses. Marjorie had an estate on long island called hillwood she eventually sold that and give to cw post became the old name for cw post long island university. Another hillwood and washington today a museum. She had the largest apartment residents in new york city. They had built mara maralago and then camp top bridge was on 655 acres and the adirondacks of new york. A lot of people had with the cold camps but nothing like the camp that this one is you cant get to it by road, you drive to the south end of this like you take a boat across to the boathouse get out of the boathouse and go to a follicular like ski lift behind it and go 80 feet up to a ridge and thats where you enter the property. And its still in existence. For about 10 years it belong to the state of new york and you could actually stay there overnight for a couple hundred dollars it was fantastic by. But they couldnt keep it up and couldnt afford to keep it up anymore it was sold to a wealthy texas businessman who now lives there himself if you want to make friends with him you can go there too. They had the Worlds Largest private yacht build called the hussar the sea cloud at one point. A recent picture and it still in service. It sells mostly around the caribbean. Its not so big it gives you the sense of otherworldly luxuries. Its wonderful that some of these things still exist. This is a picture of hillwood. Theres maralago circa 1,960. Thats a lovely shot. It gives you a sense of the classic beauty of the place. The singular quality of it. Fortunate to go inside that its amazing. There is the front gate of maralago. Even if you dont have 200,000 even if you can still go drive down ocean drive and see that. As the living room of the place. Donald trump had the place meticulously restored. Everything that was there when he bought it in 1,985 he lived there as private residence until about 1,992 everything that was there has been redone to the nines. Most of the original furniture remains from marjorie post. She had the original and the house itself was really patterned after the she palace in rome. I do a lot of the furniture was copied including the dining room table that seats 32 joule and goldleaf encrusted that weighs times manufactured in several pieces you might imagine. She had that removed before her death to the hillwood home in washington dc but commissioned a copy a reasonable copy of it. That is the table that sits there. This is pretty much all original furniture. There are some alcoves up there you cant quite see there is one here. She used to there were always 32 guests for dinner parties there be a butler standing behind each of the 32 people. She would stand up in that little alcove when people are coming in because she liked to see the looks on the peoples faces as they walked in. Not because she wanted to see and become a she wanted to see astonishment. She wanted to share the sense of wonder she felt like she had created. She loved sharing the amazement of being in a place like that. It came up again. Press that button. There she is and a little later in life after she divorced e. F. Hutton the story of how she came to divorce hutton. Not for family hour but she married a guy named Joseph Davies became envoy to russia. Thats where she bought a lot of art from people fleeing the balsa vector in the thursdays. She bought incredible amounts of art for pennies on the dollar most of which is still on display at hillwood. There is her needs. The daughter of huttons brother who became famous as the poor little rich girl. If marjorie meriwether post had trouble in marriages, Barbara Hutton took it to a whole another level. Here is marjories daughter with e. F. Hutton dena merrill, she became a notable actress. Heres the southern white house operation. Heres palm beach as it looks today in aerial shot. Thats all aabout all ive got. [applause] anybody have questions . Comments . We would love to hear. I work in hollywood and a a [inaudible question] the hurricane of 28 did not significantly impact the island. It was minimal damage there. Nor did the depression significantly affect boeings life in palm beach. People lost a significant portion of their wealth but at the level of wealth we are talking about the fortunes that had been abashed as someone interviewed one of the shopkeepers he said, we havent lost much business. If you still got 50 million you cant afford a new pair of pants. And in the 1930s you can imagine. They were just living another level. They were pretty much prove to that kind of downtime. You said that after you finish the writing last train to paradise he had all this information left over. Did you have a lot of information left over for another book for after this one . Do i have a lot of information left over after this book . I dont know. For the longest time i thought, people used to come up to me and say why dont you write another florida book because they enjoyed last train to paradise. I started off writing novels. I have 10 novels. When they came out they had the show floor foodcourt of milk. Its a thrill to imagine the book i came out with 17 years ago sells now more copies than it did at a brisker rate when it came out. I used to think, if i had another idea for a good florida book i would certainly sit down and write it but sometimes you just cant get out your own way you dont see that there is a story there that people might be interested in. I think it was really that chance conversation that mitchell and i had that said marjorie meriwether, trump is calling it his southern white house thats what marjorie meriwether post tried to make out of it 54 years ago. It was one of those just one of those things where suddenly you see there is a story. Maybe there is some material there i will be able to revision. Right now im not sure there is anything left in that ball. But thank you for the question. Now i will start thinking. [laughter] anything else . Back in college was poured concrete from the family. Why did she replicate that as he went on the railroad . Isnt poured concrete cheaper that having wooden structure and hiring a one of the notable things about the Ponce De Leon is it was built of reinforced concrete which had not been used as Building Material before and it was one way they could it was one way they could get buildings taller. If you just use concrete block its only stable for about three or four stories. Not so much even then. But reinforced concrete was the medium that allowed the railroad arches, the bridges to be built across of what he considered sufficient strength to be built across the cups that go down the keys. Its just that he didnt replicate the use of that material when he built the hotel part of it was speed. He wanted to get the poinciana up quickly. When the breakers palm beach burned down the first two times, it was so popular the important thing was to get it rebuilt instantaneously and almost instantaneously the Royal Poinciana was built in nine months, imagine a 500 room hotel being built in five months. Even today. The only way to do that was with wood. Thats the principal reason. It was only after the third building that the board of directors said about the breakers, this time we are going to spend it, it took them a year and and a half to reconstructed in concrete and thats the medium that was used. Why he didnt do it all yes it wouldve made more sense but sometimes other considerations got in the way. Did you get to interview trump . Did i get to interview donald trump . No i did not get to interview donald trump. This was not a donald trump book. At the time i didnt even think it would be worth my time trying to get that interview. Anyway, lee standiford. [applause] here is a look at some of the most notable books of 2,019. According to publishers weekly, in solitary albert wood fox reflects on his time in solitary confinement. Historian brenda one apple recalls the impeachment trial of president Andrew Johnson in 1,868 indian teachers. In antisocial the new yorkers Andrew Marantz reports on all the off right has exploited the internet to promote extremist views. James donovan provides a history of the space race in 1,969 apollo 11 moon landing in shoot for the moon. And in guesthouse for young widows journalist also dame of any talks about how women from around the world are recruited by isis and their experiences after joining. The things they were hearing were not come join a death cult enslaved. Certainly thats not what they were hearing. These were popular girls they got straight as they were bright they were the girls that the teachers admired. And they started being exposed to on this various platforms a lot of messaging from isis propaganda about stuff that was weird real. They would wear headscarves. They were lured by the idea that they could go join this utopian society where they would have a role and be empowered and be respected. All of these authors have appeared on booktv and you can find the programs in their entirety at booktv. Org. Type the authors name in the search bar at the top of the page. It is great to be here with you all to celebrate and discuss an excellent new book by one of our countrys most original and insightful economic
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