Little Edie Beale Handwritten Letters to Walter Newkirk. "Grey Gardens"

I just got these very recently. They are 3 letters written in May and August of 2001 by Edith "Little Edie" Bouvier Beale. She was born on November 7, 1917, in New York and passed on January 14th, 2002, in Bal Harbour, Florida. She was the daughter of Phelan and Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale. Both Big and Little Edie lived in East Hampton, New York at the family vacation home called, "Grey Gardens". Little Edie was the first cousin of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy Onassis and Lee Radziwill (Jackie's sister) who just passed away on February 15th of this year. Most people know mother and daughter Beale as "Big and Little Edie".

Both Big and Little Edie have been the subject of three documentaries. The first and second films are called "Grey Gardens" and "The Beales of Grey Gardens" and both were filmed/edited/released by Albert and David Maysles. The third documentary is called "That Summer" which was released last year. That documentary was film footage taken of the Beales at Grey Gardens in 1972, at the direction of Lee Radziwill and Peter Beard. Even Andy Warhol made an appearance in the film and went on to use Little Edie in one of his artwork installations. The Maysles brothers were hired to film the Beales in 1972 and when the film idea was shelved by Radziwill and Beard, they decided to make their own film about the Beales. It was during that summer in 1972 that the restoration work was being done on the home, "Grey Gardens", at the behest of Jackie and Ari Onassis.

These letters were purchased from Walter Newkirk, who began a friendship with the Beales when he interviewed them both in the late 1970s while at Rutgers University. He and Little Edie spoke on the phone and also through letters. The 3 letters I have here were written by Little Edie in 2001 (Newkirk was not sure about which year that the card was sent to him, but I have verified it was in 2001), the last two were shortly before her death. Her handwriting is hard to read until you get used to her way of writing, and I had wanted to get a couple of her letters to go with the books I have that were written by Newkirk, about Little Edie. He wrote two books, the first is "MemoraBEALEia: A Private Scrapbook About Edie Beale of Grey Gardens, First Cousin To First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis", published in 2008.

The second book, "Letters of Little Edie Beale: Grey Gardens and Beyond", written by Newkirk in 2009, is much rarer than the first book he wrote about Little Edie. In this book, he published the 100+ letters she wrote to him over the years. The two letters and the card that also has a letter on the back, that belong to me now, are included in that book. The first one is written on Wednesday, August 29, 2001, and is on page 63 of the book. The second letter, written August 30, 2001, is on page 64. The third, written on the back of a nice card that speaks of "Love" with flowers around it, was written on May 23, 2001, and is on page 67. This letter speaks of Little Edie's father, Phelan Beale. She also speaks about The 14th Dalai Lama coming to the United States, as well as the head of the Armenian Clergy, who did the opening Prayer in the Senate the day she wrote the letter to Walter. She also mentions Cher. Because Walter Newkirk says in the book he was not sure if the card referencing these events was sent in the year 2000 or in 2001, I did the research to verify the correct year. I found the minutes for the Congressional Record of the Senate, May 23, 2001. On page 9140, it speaks of the guest Chaplain to say the opening prayer that morning. It was His Holiness Catholicos Karekin The Second, Catholicos of all Armenians, Holy Etchmiadzin, Republic of Armenia. So, the correct date for Little Edie's letter on the back of the card was written on May 23, 2001. It took me about 5 minutes to verify this information so I am not sure why Newkirk could not have done that in 2008-2009 when he was putting the book together.

On the May 23, 2001, letter at the bottom, Little Edie writes that she is working on her "Book" and that it is very painful for her. She wanted to write her story, but she never finished it. She did give permission for Walter Newkirk to publish pictures of her and her mother, as well as the letters she wrote to him. Without those books and the documentaries, there would be nothing remaining of Big and Little Edie's legacy and life story. They are a personal testament to Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and Edith Bouvier Beale, and very much appreciated by everyone who fell in love with Big and Little Edie.

Just a bit of memorabilia that I am glad to have gotten, and I got a great deal on all three together. While I no longer speak to Newkirk, I was glad that he let me purchase these 3 letters from him on eBay. I hope he is doing well.

Enjoy the pics :)