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Glitter That Was Once Gold tells stories of the fascinating mansions, the wealthy residents and social history related to Long Island’s Gold Coast. Long Island residents included names like Vanderbilt, Pratt, Phipps, DuPont, Hearst, Whitney and their estates which included acres and rooms that numbered in the hundreds. Some of the mansions stand only as ruins, while others are intact serving in other functions. What effects did this era have on what we know today?

This book will answer this and many other questions such as …

• Which Long Island mansion is the second largest home in America?
• Where did Hecksher Park get its name?
• Why are there two lines of pine trees down the median of the Southern State Parkway near Belmont State Park?
• What Long Island estate had performances by Tyrone Powers, John Phillips Sousa, as well as, John and Ethel Barrymore at its outdoor amphitheater?
• What Long Island estate was the setting for the highly publicized custody battle of Gloria Vanderbilt?
• Which Long Island mansion was used to film the horse head bed scene in “The Godfather?”
• Which Long Island estate has the oldest wrought iron entrance gates in America?
• Which Long Island mansions were the inspiration for the book “The Great Gatsby?”
• Which Long Island estate has the original eagles from the first Grand Central Station in Manhattan?

KEVIN DURST’s love of architecture, landscape, Long Island history, photography and Long Island trivia is eloquently brought together in his first book, Glitter That Was Once Gold.

New York 20th Century Historical Trivia

Glitter That Was Once Gold is a terrific read about the various families that were the power brokers during the turn of the 20th century. You’ll read stories about the Vanderbilt’s, Whitney’s, and Morgan’s and the opulent estates in which they lived for example – Caumsett, Eagles Nest, Falaise, and Old Westbury Gardens.

If you enjoy walking the grounds of Caumsett State Historic Park, Bayard Cutting Arboretum, or Old Westbury Gardens, you will certainly find the stories about these Long Island millionaires fascinating in Glitter That Was Once Gold.

Kevin Durst, author of Long Island History and Trivia book, honored at reception

Kevin Durst, author of Glitter That Was Once Gold, will be honored at The Long Island Distinctive Authors Reception on Thursday, October 18, 2007 at 7:00pm. Tickets are $50, and proceeds benefit the West Hempstead Public Library and its programs.

Gilded Age Andrew Mellon Heir In Midst of Tawdry Divorce

Richard Mellon Scaife is known to fund right wing causes but it seems he has a hard time living by the fundamental principals that these organizations advocate. David Segal, a Washington Post Staff Writer, tells the tawdry details of Richard Mellon Scaife’s divorce from Margaret “Ritchie” Scaife. Segal suggests a weekend trip to Pittsburgh to take in the events leading up to the divorce including trysts with a mistress in a local motel that rented rooms by the hours. Read more about the Mellon Scaife divorce and the hypocrisy of Richard Mellon Scaife in the Washington Post article, “Low Road to Splitsville.”