Nina Auchincloss Straight

Nina Auchincloss Straight
Born Nina Gore Auchincloss
1935
Washington, D.C.
Education Potomac School
Miss Porter's School
Alma mater Bryn Mawr College
Columbia University
American University
Occupation Author, journalist
Spouse(s) Newton Steers
(m. 1957; div. 1974)
Michael Straight
(m. 1974; div. 1998)
Children Hugh Auchincloss Steers
Ivan Steers
Burr Steers
Parent(s) Hugh Dudley Auchincloss, Jr.
Nina S. Gore
Relatives Gore Vidal (half-brother)
Jackie Onassis (step-sister)
Lee Radziwill (step-sister)
Louis Auchincloss (cousin)

Nina Gore Auchincloss Straight (born 1935), formally known as Nina Steers, is an American author, journalist, and socialite.[1] She is the mother of writer/director Burr Steers and artist Hugh Auchincloss Steers, half-sister of Gore Vidal, step-sister of First Lady Jacqueline Bouvier and actress Lee Radziwill.[2]

Early life

Nina Gore Auchincloss was born in 1935[3] to Hugh Dudley Auchincloss, Jr. (1897-1976) and Nina S. Gore (1903-1978). Hugh Auchincloss was an American stockbroker and lawyer, and a cousin of the novelist and lawyer, Louis Auchincloss. Hugh's parents were Hugh Dudley Auchincloss, Sr. (1858–1913), a merchant and financier, and Emma Brewster Jennings. Nina S. Gore was the daughter of U.S. Senator Thomas Gore and his wife Nina Belle Kay. Hugh had previously been married to Maya de Chrapovitsky (1899-1990),[4] a Russian noblewoman, from 1925 to 1932. Hugh and Maya had one child, a half brother to Nina, Hugh Dudley Auchincloss III (1927–2015).[5] Nina S. Gore had previously been married to Eugene Luther Vidal, an American commercial aviation pioneer, from 1922 to 1935. Nina and Eugene had one child, a half brother to Nina, the writer Gore Vidal (1925-2012). Hugh and Nina married in 1935. Besides Nina, the marriage produced one additional child, Thomas Gore Auchincloss (born 1937).[6]

Hugh and Nina S. Gore divorced in 1941. In 1942, Hugh remarried for the third and final time to Janet Lee Bouvier (1907-1989), the mother of future First Lady Jacqueline Lee "Jackie" Bouvier (1929–1994) and Caroline Lee Bouvier (born 1933). Hugh and Janet had two children together, Janet Jennings Auchincloss (1945–1985) and James Lee Auchincloss (born 1947). Hugh and Janet remained married until his death in 1976. In June 1942, Nina remarried for the third and final time to Robert Olds (1896-1943). Unfortunately, Robert died of pneumonia on April 28, 1943, after hospitalization for constrictive pericarditis and Libman-Sacks endocarditis,[7][8] at the age of 46, just prior to his son Robin Olds' graduation from West Point.[9]

In 1955, Auchincloss made her debut at a formal ball with given by her father and stepmother, who lived in McLean, VA, at their summer home, Hammersmith Farm in Newport, Rhode Island. The ball was attended by over 700 guests.[10] In 1957, she inherited a $225,000 (equivalent to $1,919,000 in 2016) trust.[1]

Education and career

Nina attended the Potomac School in Washington, D.C. and Miss Porter's School in Farmington, Connecticut. She attended and graduated from Bryn Mawr College, just outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.[11]

Nina subsequently attended and earned a masters degree in journalism from Columbia University in 1961. While she attended Columbia, she worked part-time for columnist Charles Bartlett. In 1964, she earned an M.A. in history from Columbia, her second degree from Columbia. From 1963 until 1971, Nina worked as Washington correspondent and bureau chief[12] for the Chattanooga Times, while raising her three sons.[1]

In 1981, her novel Ariabella: The First, was published by Random House. At the time, she was in her second year of evening law school at American University and was working on a biography of her maternal grandfather, Oklahoma Sen. Thomas Pryor Gore.[1]

Personal life

In 1957, Nina married Newton Steers (1917–1993), after having briefly dated Ted Kennedy.[11] Jackie Kennedy was her matron of honor at the wedding[11] and then Sen. John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) was one of the groomsmen.[13] During their marriage, Steers became a member of the Maryland State Senate.[12] Together, they had three sons:

Nina and Newton separated in 1972[12] and divorced in 1974.[14] In 1977, Steers was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Maryland's 8th congressional district. Steers remarried to Inge Wirsich Irwin in 1978, whom he remained married to until his death in 1993.[13]

In 1974, Nina married her second husband, Michael Whitney Straight (1916–2004), a member of the Whitney family who was a publisher and novelist. Straight was the son of Willard Dickerman Straight (1880–1918), an investment banker who died in Michael's infancy, and Dorothy Payne Whitney (1887–1968), a philanthropist. After his mother's remarriage to Leonard Knight Elmhirst (1893–1974), Straight lived in England. The wedding was attended by Janet Auchincloss, Jackie Kennedy, Renata Adler, Beatrice Straight, and Peter Cookson.[2] Nina and Michael's marriage ended in divorce in 1998. He later married Katharine Gould, a child psychiatrist and art historian, whom he remained married to until his death in 2004.[14]

Published works

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Vespa, Mary (May 11, 1981). "Jackie & Gore Launch a Gossipy Novel—and Make a Name for Nina Straight". People Magazine. Retrieved 7 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Mrs. Steers Wed to Michael Straight". The New York Times. May 2, 1974. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
  3. ↑ The Kennedy White House: Family Life and Pictures, 1961-1963 By Carl Sferrazza Anthony, page 149
  4. ↑ "Maria Nikolayevna "Maya" Chrapovitsky Rand". findagrave.com. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  5. ↑ "Hugh Dudley "Yusha" Auchincloss, III". findagrave.com. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Kauffman, Bill (2006-11-20) The Populist Patriotism of Gore Vidal, The American Conservative
  7. ↑ Zamzow 2008, p. 85
  8. ↑ Fogerty, Ronald P. (editor, 1953), USAF Historical Study 91: Biographical Data on Air Force General Officers, 1917-1952, Vol II: "L-Z".
  9. ↑ Anderson 2004, p. 187
  10. ↑ The New York Times Staff (August 13, 1955). "NINA AUCHINCLOSS MAKES HER DEBUT". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 The New York Times Staff (June 9, 1957). "Miss Nina Gore Auchincloss Wed to Newton Ivan Steers Jr.". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 March 2016.
  12. 1 2 3 Cheshire, Maxine (February 24, 1972). "Potpourri". The Tuscaloosa News. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  13. 1 2 Barnes, Bart (February 12, 1993). "REPUBLICAN NEWTON I. STEERS JR. DIES". The Washington Post. Retrieved 4 March 2016.
  14. 1 2 Lehmann-Haupt, Christopher (January 5, 2004). "Michael Straight, Who Wrote of Connection to Spy Ring, Is Dead at 87". The New York Times. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
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