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Brooke Astor Dead at 105

Charity and society queen was victimized at the end of her life

By Sam Gale Rosen,  Newser Staff

Posted Aug 13, 2007 4:40 PM CDT
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(Newser) – Brooke Astor—philanthropist and former queen of New York society -- has died at 105. The socialite had been in the news for being abused and exploited by her descendants, but her enduring legacy was her tireless charity work. "Money is like manure; it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around," she used to say.

Brooke Astor inherited $60 million for herself and the same amount for her foundation when her husband, Newsweek chairman Vincent Astor, died. She personally visited all of the causes that she donated money to to assess their worthiness. At 98, Mrs. Astor still wrote articles for Vanity Fair, musing sadly that men no longer wore hats and women no longer flirted.

Brooke Astor, 95, is seen at the Merchant's House Museum in New York in this May 1, 1997, file photo. Astor, the civic leader, philanthropist and high society fixture who gave away nearly $200 million to support the city's great cultural institutions and a host of humbler projects, died of...
Brooke Astor, 95, is seen at the Merchant's House Museum in New York in this May 1, 1997, file photo. Astor, the civic leader, philanthropist and high society fixture who gave away nearly $200 million...   (Associated Press)
Brooke Russell Astor, the widow of multimillionaire Vincent Astor, enters surrogate court in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in this Oct. 1, 1959 file photo. Brooke Astor, the civic leader, philanthropist and high society fixture who gave away nearly $200 million to support the city's great cultural institutions and a host of...
Brooke Russell Astor, the widow of multimillionaire Vincent Astor, enters surrogate court in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., in this Oct. 1, 1959 file photo. Brooke Astor, the civic leader, philanthropist and high...   (Associated Press)
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The Astors' abuse of their matriarch
New York

 
New York • Vanity Fair • obituary • charity • Brooke Astor • Vincent Astor • famous people who died

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