Description
Iconic architect Addison Mizner's unfiltered first-person account of Palm Beach's formative years from 1918 until 1924, entitled Addison Mizner: A Palm Beach Memoir, is an upcoming publication by the Historical Society of Palm Beach County. Focused on the period when Mizner and sewing-machine heir Paris Singer were instrumental in shaping Palm Beach into one of the world's ultimate destinations, Mizner's insightful narrative offers an insider's perspective, conveyed by his candid views, Barbary Coast bluster, and drawing room wit.
While Mizner's architectural legacy has been the subject of numerous books, this unique volume gives readers a front-row seat to Mizner's personal relationships with his family, friends, and clients, who happened to be among the nation's wealthiest patrons. Along with Mizner's detailed, matter-of-fact chronicle, the Historical Society's book includes an up-close, discerning Introduction by heiress and confidante Alice DeLamar, a Prologue and Afterword by historian and author Augustus Mayhew, an Architectural Timeline, and a History of Mizner Industries, illustrated with 100 historical photographs from the Historical Society of Palm Beach County's extensive Addison Mizner Collection.
About the Author
Augustus Mayhew is the author of two collections of essays that were originally published in the New York Social Diary, Palm Beach Daily News, Palm Beach Life magazine, Quest magazine, and Avenue magazine: Palm Beach: A Greater Grandeur (2016) and Lost in Wonderland: Reflections on Palm Beach (2012). Augustus Mayhew is a feature writer and photographer at the New York Social Diary (2006-2022). His articles and features on Addison Mizner have appeared in the Palm Beach Daily News and the New York Social Diary. After the Historical Society of Palm Beach County was formed in 1937, West Palm Beach attorney A. Stanley Bussey donated a vintage black-and-white photograph of an island street scene to the new organization, the first gift to what would become a remarkable collection of artifacts and documents representing the cultures and communities, failures and successes of life in Palm Beach County.