Brooke Astor Passes On, Ending an Era

Brooke Astor, the matriarch of New York Socialites and a truly wonderful philanthropist has died at the age of 105.  No one in recent history has brought such a generous and wonderful spirit to the city, smiling as she gave away hundreds of millions of dollars to one worthy cause after the next. 

Mrs. Astor was a dynamic figure, who had a great dislike for snobbery and all things affected, and who despite having grown up in the Gilded Age of New York Society, managed to bridge the gap between the closed society of old and the more open, relatively merit-based society of new.  We will certainly miss her warm and graceful presence in what can otherwise be a superficial and empty realm, a realm which seems to need her now more than ever.