In reply to by Anonymous

"Dreams that Money Can Buy" is perhaps the best book written about her and will answer all your questions. She and Smith Reynolds' secretary/best friend were seen (by Smith) at a big prohibition-era drunken free for all at Reynolda (vast RJ Reynolds' estate in Winston Salem, NC) heading back to the house grass stained and disheveled. She was pregnant, and the theory was that she told Smith and he was convinced they had been sleeping together behind Smith's back. He had threatened to kill himself a lot...most notably when he proposed he said he'd kill himself if she said no. Anyway, anti semitism factored in the inquest and investigation, but was allegedly shut down by the Reynolds family to not air out dirty laundry on the front pages. She killed herself via carbon monoxide poisoning while sitting bikini clad in the front seat of her Rolls Royce. She supported the civil rights movement and wounded Viet Nam Veterans, monetarily and by performing. She was bisexual and allegedly did drugs when she was young (Broadway ingenue), but seemed to not care what people thought her whole life. In some ways, very ahead of her time for a woman born in 1904. You might also want to check out "Libby" by Hamilton Darby Perry.

Plain text

  • No HTML tags allowed.
  • Web page addresses and email addresses turn into links automatically.
  • Lines and paragraphs break automatically.

Donate

Help us elevate the voices of Jewish women.

donate now

Get JWA in your inbox

Read the latest from JWA from your inbox.

sign up now