Elizabeth Kerri Mahon

Welcome to part two of my interview with Professor Paula Uruburu, author of the new biography American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White and the Crime of the Century . Q. The trial of Harry K. Thaw seemed to set the tone for later celebrity trials of the century like O.J. Simpson, the Menendez brothers, where the victim seemed to be demonized in some way. Not that Thaw and Evelyn came out much better in the press. It really was a watershed moment for the new century (which would see unfortunately other trial rooted in scandal and sensationalisms, each decade having its “trial of the century” – you mentioned a couple and I would add the Fatty Arbuckle , Lindbergh kidnapping,, and the Manson murder trials in this unholy unhappy pantheon.) As I say in the book, at first, Harry was seen as the knigh t in shining armor and Evelyn the “ruined maid,” but once all the facts started to emerge about insanity and less than innocent behavior (in order to save Harry from the electric chair) the d...

Scandalous Women is pleased to welcome Professor Paula Uruburu, author of American Eve : Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, and the Crime of the Century (Riverhead Books). Paula Uruburu is an associate professor of English at Hofstra University. An expert on Evelyn Nesbit and the time period, she has been widely published and has appeared on A&E's Biography, PBS's History Detectives and American Experience, and been a consultant for The History Channel. The scandalous story of America’s first supermodel, sex goddess, and modern celebrity, Evelyn Nesbit, the temptress at the center of Stanford White’s famous murder, whose iconic life story reflected all the paradoxes of America’s Gilded Age. Known to millions before her sixteenth birthday in 1900, Evelyn Nesbit was the most photographed woman of her era, an iconic figure who set the standard for female beauty. Women wanted to be her. Men just wanted her. When her life of fantasy became all too real, and her jealous millionaire h...

The Winner of CUPID AND THE KING by Princess Michael of Kent Leanna Renee Hieber! Please email kerri1102@juno.com with your address to claim your prize Thanks to everyone that entered and stay tuned for more giveaways in the future

'Nature never intended me for obscurity,' Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte to her father in 1815. Although little known today outside her native Baltimore or to Napoleon scholars, Elizabeth Bonaparte Patterson was a well-known beauty in her day. Her marriage to Napoleon Bonaparte's younger brother, made her a well-known celebrity on both sides of the Atlantic, and allowed her entree into the highest echelon of society. Elizabeth or Betsy as she was known was the daughter of William Patterson, who emigrated from Ulster in Ireland and grew to be the second richest man in Baltimore after Charles Carroll, making his fortune in business, finally ending up as the owner of a line of clipper ships (Patterson Park is named after him). She met Jerome Bonaparte at a ball given by Samuel Chase, a signer of the Declaration of Independence in the fall of 1803. Joseph fell for her immediately. Although his English was limited, she spoke French fluently. Jerome who was born in 1784, was a lie...

I saw no one but you, I admired no one but you, I want no one but you. written by Napoleon Bonaparte to Marie Walewska after their first meeting When you have ceased to love me, remember that I love you still Marie Walewska, inscribed on a locket to Napoleon with a lock of her hair. Imagine that one is a beautiful blonde noblewoman from an aristocratic but impoverished family. You are married to a much, older man to further your family's ambitions. You capture the notice of one of the greatest men the world has ever known who presses his attentions on you, much to your dismay. Your friends tell you that you are your country's greatest hope. What do you do? This was the dilemma faced by the young Marie Walewska in 1806 when she met the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. She was born Marie Laczynska on December 7 1786, to a family of little money but aristocratic lineage. The family lived on a rundown estate, where Marie was one of six children, raised by her widowed mother. Marie'...

“My family have done me far more harm than I have been able to do them good.” Napoleon Bonaparte They say that you can't choose your family, and Napoleon knew that more than most. Throughout his lifetime his many siblings fought amongst themselves and him. They were greedy, grasping, but fiercely loyal if anyone from the outside attacked them. Of all his siblings, who he placed on the thrones of Europe as his puppet monarchs, his favorite sibling and in some ways the most notorious was his sister Pauline She was born Maria Paoletta Buonaparte, but known as Pauline, on October 20, 1780 in Ajaccio, Corsica (all the Bonapartes used the french versions of their names when they moved to France). She was the sixth child and second daughter of Carlo Buonaparte and his wife Letizia. When she was five, her father died suddenly of cancer, and her eldest brother Joseph became head of the family. However, it was Napoleon, who made the fortunes of the family, during his rise to power, first as...

It is Napoleon Week here on Scandalous Women focusing on three women in the Emperor's life; his sister Pauline, his mistress Marie Walewska, and his sister Elizabeth Patterson. Anyone who leaves a comment on either post will be eligible to win a copy of Cupid and the King by Princess Michael of Kent. The winner will be announced on May 23rd, 2008.

I ran the wrong kind of business, but I did it with integrity. Sydney Biddle Barrows, to Marian Christy, ''Mayflower Madam' Tells All,' Boston Globe, 1986 There is a reason why they call prostitution the oldest profession. Its been around since probably man first walked upright, and the debate on whether or not to legalize it as raged almost as long. Recently with the Eliot Spitzer trial and now the alleged suicide of the 'DC Madam,' Deborah Jeane Palfrey, prostitution is once again in the news. But there was a time when the idea of high class call girl rings or escort services was still something of a shocker. Recognize the woman on the left? If you don't, then you weren't around or old enough in 1984 when Sidney Biddle Barrows was once of the biggest stories in the news. She was dubbed The Mayflower Madam because her ancestors had come over on The Mayflower. The Biddles in Philadelphia are an old Mainline family, the type that only have their names in ...

Which is one the most romantic love stories of all time? 40% of you chose Napoleon and Josephine 26% of you chose Elizabeth Armistead and Charles James Fox 26% of you chose Abelard and Heloise and 6% chose Emma Hamilton and Lord Nelson Wow, that's pretty awesome and interesting too!