Where There's a Will: Who Inherited What and Why
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3.6 • 17 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
Of whom was it said, "while her literary works can be characterized as creative genius, her will cannot?"
Who left $25,000 for sixty-six of his friends to go out and "have dinner on me"?
Who kept urns containing the ashes of her parents in the hall closet - and in turn willed them to her son-in-law?
Yes, the rich are different, not only in life but in death, too. In Where There's a Will, Stephen M. Silverman shows just how different with a peek at the wills of the richest, most celebrated people of all time, and he provides the intimate scoop on what their heirs had to say about it.
Discover what secret pact Clark Gable made in 1942 and took to his grave - only to be exposed when his will was read. Learn why it took more than a year for Liza Minnelli to raise the $37,500 needed to bury the ashes of her mother, Judy Garland, and what treasures were left to the heirs of Babe Ruth, James Dean, John Jacob Astor, Ernest Hemingway, and Ayn Rand once those wills cleared probate.
From Marilyn Monroe and Andy Warhol to John Lennon, Jim Morrison, John Steinbeck, Rita Hayworth, and Jack Dempsey, Where There's a Will . . . is an utterly engrossing read sure to captivate tycoons and gossip addicts alike with its fascinating tales of how the other half bequeaths.
"Breezy, fun, and informative." - The Hollywood Reporter
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Wills can expose surprising aspects of the lives, characters and interests of the deceased as revealed by these intriguing, gossipy accounts by Silverman ( David Lean ) of how 30 notables amassed and disposed of their possessions. Although relatives, lovers and friends are chief beneficiaries, such prominent immigrants as John Jacob Astor and Joseph Pulitzer destined much of their wealth to the public weal. Harry Houdini, on the other hand, dictated that his most precious legacy--his magician's secrets--be destroyed, while little remained of the proceeds from Alan Jay Lerner's and Judy Garland's lucrative careers. A unique case is provided by gay fashion designer and AIDS victim Perry Ellis, who left his estate to a daughter conceived in vitro.
