Liz Smith - Gossip Column from the NEW YORK POST

Queen of Diamonds: The Fabled Legacy of Evalyn Walsh McLean

The last and longest private owner of the Hope Diamond, Evalyn Walsh McLean led anything but an ordinary life. Evalyn grew up a poor girl in a rough Colorado mining town where her father discovered one of the largest gold mines in the United States. The newly wealthy family relocated to Washington, D.C., where she met and married Ned McLean, who inherited the renowned Washington Post and the Cincinnati Enquirer. With the combined influence of the Walsh and McLean families, Evalyn developed friendships with the politically prominent in the nation’s capital and became the city’s favorite hostess. Notorious for giving magnificent parties, she counted the Tafts, the Hardings, the Coolidges, Alice Roosevelt, J. Edgar Hoover, and Ethel Barrymore among her many personal friends.

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The Hope Diamond: Evalyn Walsh McLean and the Captivating Mystery of the World's Most Alluring Jewel

Much has been written about this most fascinating blue diamond to which myth, mystery, and intrigue have become inextricably linked the Hope diamond. Nearly four hundred years of remarkable history is encapsulated within it, one of the world s most stunning and storied treasures. This fascinating tale is beautifully presented here in this visually enticing book, Evalyn Walsh McLean and the Captivating Mystery of the World s Most Alluring Jewel. With great focus concentrated on the years the diamond spent under the ownership of Evalyn Walsh McLeanthe Hope's longest owner each part of the Hope s extraordinary journey holds its own story and has been faithfully retold in this new gift book. Some stories never grow old. That is certainly true with the Hope diamond, an exquisite legend that has never lost its sparkle and continues to capture the attention of millions each and every year.

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Meet Joseph McLean Gregory

Joseph McLean Gregory is the great-grandson of Evalyn Walsh McLean. Originally from Louisville, Kentucky, he was educated at Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee, and is the president and founder of Hope Diamond Collection. A noted author and historian, Joseph has received rave reviews for his books, Queen of Diamonds and his latest book, The Hope Diamond: Evalyn Walsh McLean and the Captivating Mystery of the World’s Most Alluring Jewel. This book explores the remarkable journey of the enchanting blue diamond and the rich legacy of Gregory’s great-grandmother, Evalyn Walsh McLean, who purchased the gem in 1911. The book sheds new light on the myth, mystery, and magnificence on the McLean legacy. Although much has been written about the storied gem, Gregory offers an in-depth look behind the intrigue, fascination, and misfortune of those who dared to possess it.

In Nashville, I ordered to my hotel room one hairdresser, so I could look as good as possible for the Waldenettes. In came Joseph Gregory, who is young, handsome and has pale blue eyes like the kids in the movie "Children of the Damned." As he did my hair, he told me he, too, has a book coming out in September about his fabled great-grandmother, Evalyn Walsh McLean. This work, from Providence House publishers, is titled "Queen of Diamonds." (Ms. McLean was a legend of wealth and eccentricity. She owned the fabled but unlucky Hope Diamond, which was finally bought by jeweler Harry Winston.) I told young Mr. Gregory that in my own book, there is the tale of how Harry gave the diamond to the Smithsonian Institution, mailing it to them in a parcel post brown wrapper. He said the Smithsonian is cooperating with him on his book. It turns out that this Nashville hairdresser has his own perfume with a bottle designed by the well-known Marc Rosen and it is in Bergdorf Goodman under the name Fable.

Elizabeth Taylor, move over!