Charleston County Public Library

Gertie, the fabulous life of Gertrude Sanford Legendre, heiress, explorer, socialite, spy, Kathryn Smith

eng

Includes bibliographical references (pages 211-227) and index

individual biography

illustrationsportraits

index present

non fiction

Gertie

bibliography

Kathryn Smith

the fabulous life of Gertrude Sanford Legendre, heiress, explorer, socialite, spy

"Gertie lived a 20th century life full of fun, adventure, derring-do and drama: a Gilded Age girlhood, explorations on three continents, hijinks on the French Riviera with the Lost Generation, work for the OSS ... during World War II, and imprisonment by the Nazis. And that's less than half the story! Gertrude Sanford Legendre was a woman whose adventurous life began in Aiken, S.C. in 1902 and ended at her plantation outside Charleston in 2000. Daring and fearless, she undertook numerous challenging expeditions for natural history museums, and befriended some of the greatest personalities of the time, including Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald, Harpo Marx, Albert Schweitzer, General George S. Patton, Lilly Pulitzer, and Bing Crosby. In her later years, she became an ardent conservationist, fighting for habitat preservation on the South Carolina coast and leaving her 7,000-acre plantation in a conservation easement, a place where 'the beasts can grow old and die.'"--Publisher's website

Prologue -- Gilded Age girl -- Everyone seemed to be dancing -- Every inch the successful huntress -- The roaring Riviera -- The Queen of Sheba's antelope -- Jungle trail leads to altar -- Mistress of Medway -- From Indochina to Iran -- The gathering storm -- Member of the OSS -- Bagged -- Gertie's war -- The damages of war -- Widow, bride, divorcée -- Second act -- Saving Medway -- Epilogue: a visit to Medway