Ann Greyson (Author of Never-DEAD)

Ann Greyson rated a book it was amazing No Man's Land (Star Trek: Picard) by Kirsten Beyer (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Personally, I am not into Audiobooks and I would rather choose to read a book. So, Star Trek: Picard: No Man's Land was the first Audiobook I've ever listened to, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Star Trek superbeauty Jeri Ryan has been my longtime favor ...more
Jan 15, 2026 09:15PM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of No Man's Land by Kirsten Beyer. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — No Man's Land by Kirsten Beyer <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ann Greyson rated a book it was amazing The Rejuvenation Of Miss Semaphore by Charlotte O'Conor Eccles	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Author Charlotte O'Conor Eccles y Richards is an Irish cousin of mine. Her father Alexander O'Conor Eccles y Pemberton, [my cousin], founded the Irish Home Rule newspaper Roscommon Messenger. Charlotte is the great-granddaughter of Jane O’Conor y Rya ...more
Jan 15, 2026 09:12PM · like · see review
Ann Greyson rated a book it was amazing And the Russians Stayed: The Sovietization of Cuba : A Personal Portrait by Néstor T. Carbonell	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Author Nestor Carbonell y Cortina married my cousin Rosa Ramirez de Arellano y Cardenas, the great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Mariana Josefa Herrera y Chacon, my great-great-great-great-grandaunt. This is a very well written and researc ...more
Dec 28, 2025 09:52PM · like · see review
Ann Greyson rated a book it was amazing La Belle Créole: The Cuban Countess Who Captivated Havana, Madrid, and Paris by Alina García-Lapuerta (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This biographical novel chronicles the life of my tremendously famous cousin Maria de la Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo (1789-1852), better known as ‘Mercedes’ or Condesa de Merlin, a key figure in 19th-century Parisian society. At the beginning of t ...more
Dec 27, 2025 03:53PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of La Belle Créole by Alina García-Lapuerta. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — La Belle Créole by Alina García-Lapuerta <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ann Greyson rated a book it was amazing The Red Captain: The Life of Hugo O'Conor, Commandant Inspector of the Interior Provinces of New Spain (Museum Monograph) by Mark Santiago (1994-01-30) by Mark Santiago	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Published by the Arizona Historical Society (AHS), this military history biography by Mark Santiago is about my Irish ancestors Hugo O’Conor y Ryan, Knight of Calatrava XCVI and his first cousin Alejandro O’Reilly y MacDowell, I Conde de O’Reilly. Jud ...more
Dec 25, 2025 10:03PM · like · see review
Ann Greyson rated a book it was amazing The Sugar King of Havana: The Rise and Fall of Julio Lobo, Cuba's Last Tycoon by John Paul Rathbone	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Thoroughly researched and creatively crafted, “The Sugar King of Havana: The Rise and Fall of Julio Lobo, Cuba's Last Tycoon” by John Paul Rathbone presents Lobo’s larger-than-life dramatic biography in pre-revolutionary Cuba. Painting a nuanced pict ...more
Oct 08, 2025 05:07PM · like · see review
Ann Greyson rated a book it was amazing Havana: History and Architecture of a Romantic City by Maria Luisa Lobo Montalvo	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Posthumously published, “Havana: History and Architecture of a Romantic City” by my cousin Maria Luisa Lobo y Montalvo, offers an illustrated look into the history and architecture, mostly reflecting social class or standing, of Havana — part of whic ...more
Oct 05, 2025 09:13PM · like · see review
Ann Greyson rated a book it was amazing That Furious Lesbian: The Story of Mercedes de Acosta (Theater in the Americas) by Robert A. Schanke	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
The biography “That Furious Lesbian: The Story of Mercedes de Acosta” by theatre historian Robert A. Schanke, celebrates the life of my cousin Mercedes de Acosta y Hernandez de Alba, an author, poet, and gifted playwright, rather known for her many c ...more
Oct 02, 2025 10:16PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of That Furious Lesbian by Robert A. Schanke. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — That Furious Lesbian by Robert A. Schanke <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Ann Greyson rated a book it was amazing Here Lies the Heart (Homosexuality) by Mercedes de Acosta	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This tell-all name-dropping autobiography, “Here Lies the Heart,” complete with photos of family and notable friends, by my cousin Mercedes de Acosta y Hernandez de Alba (1893-1968), a pure {Spaniard and a brave and proud feminine lesbian just like m ...more
Sep 30, 2025 07:24PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Here Lies the Heart by Mercedes de Acosta. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Here Lies the Heart by Mercedes de Acosta <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

Ann Greyson rated a book it was amazing

No Man's Land (Star Trek: Picard)
by Kirsten Beyer (Goodreads Author)

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Personally, I am not into Audiobooks and I would rather choose to read a book. So, Star Trek: Picard: No Man's Land was the first Audiobook I've ever listened to, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Star Trek superbeauty Jeri Ryan has been my longtime favor ...more

Ann Greyson rated a book it was amazing

The Rejuvenation Of Miss Semaphore
by Charlotte O'Conor Eccles

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Author Charlotte O'Conor Eccles y Richards is an Irish cousin of mine. Her father Alexander O'Conor Eccles y Pemberton, [my cousin], founded the Irish Home Rule newspaper Roscommon Messenger. Charlotte is the great-granddaughter of Jane O’Conor y Rya Author Charlotte O'Conor Eccles y Richards is an Irish cousin of mine. Her father Alexander O'Conor Eccles y Pemberton, [my cousin], founded the Irish Home Rule newspaper Roscommon Messenger. Charlotte is the great-granddaughter of Jane O’Conor y Ryan [my cousin], the sister of The Red Captain Hugo O’Conor y Ryan [my cousin].

In a nutshell, the story of The Rejuvenation Of Miss Semaphore, follows Augusta Semaphore, a middle-aged woman who is preoccupied with the effects of aging. Set in a London boarding house, she encounters an advertisement in the paper addressed to ‘Ladies and Gentlemen of Means’ for the sale of a single bottle of water from the Fountain of Youth. Intending to regain her youth, she purchases a bottle. When she overindulges in the rejuvenating Water of Youth, she is transformed into a helpless infant. Augusta’s easy-going, and sometimes overly emotional, younger sister Prudence deals with the absurd consequences of suddenly having a baby in the boarding house, attempting to hide the truth from the other boarders.

Charlotte O’Conor Eccles stated that this farcical novel was inspired after she read Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1837 short story Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment. Additionally, author O’Conor Eccles makes reference to the Spanish explorer Juan Ponce de Leon, who sailed the Atlantic Ocean to find the fabled island of Bimini, where reportedly there was a vitality-restoring water spring that bestowed eternal youth on anyone who drank it or bathed in it, resulting in his discovery of Florida.

O’Conor Eccles's approach to storytelling involves a cast of eccentric characters, and witty dialogue with humorous misunderstandings. Augusta Semaphore’s “rejuvenation” is sparked by external self-acceptance, the interrelationship between self and society. Exposing how women’s identities, particularly those women unmarried and aging, are shaped by social acknowledgment, was the author’s crusading zeal for addressing women's sensitive topics. ...more

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And the Russians Stayed by Néstor T. Carbonell

And the Russians Stayed: The Sovietization of Cuba : A Personal Portrait
by Néstor T. Carbonell

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Author Nestor Carbonell y Cortina married my cousin Rosa Ramirez de Arellano y Cardenas, the great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Mariana Josefa Herrera y Chacon, my great-great-great-great-grandaunt. This is a very well written and researc Author Nestor Carbonell y Cortina married my cousin Rosa Ramirez de Arellano y Cardenas, the great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter of Mariana Josefa Herrera y Chacon, my great-great-great-great-grandaunt. This is a very well written and researched, insightful account into Cuba's relationship with the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (U.S.S.R.) which transformed the republic, its people, and its political landscape. Born and raised in Cuba, Carbonell brings both a personal and scholarly lens to this Cold War history topic, which adds layers of depth regarding revolutionary leader Fidel Castro, a committed communist who placed himself as the head of the Cuban government and the tragic nerve-racking course of events that followed, leading to Cuba's transformation.

The Cuban Revolution rose from dissidents against Fulgencio Batista becoming president of the republic in 1952. On July 26, 1953, Fidel Castro led an armed raid against the Moncada army barracks in Santiago de Cuba. Lucky for Cuba, the Castro insurgents were killed by President Fulgencio Batista’s military forces. Unfortunately, Castro managed to escape the battle but thankfully was subsequently arrested and imprisoned. Once freed from prison, Castro fled to Mexico, where he raised a guerilla army of Cuban exiles. In November 1956, Castro and these men sailed from Mexico to Cuba to attack Batista’s regime. Within days of their arrival, Batista’s forces attacked the guerillas, and a little more than a dozen men, including Castro and Ernesto “Che” Guevara, survived and made it into the Sierra Maestra mountains. Once again Cuba was safe from Castro’s insurgency. From there, Castro was able to gather new members and begin a classic guerilla campaign, and sadly gained the upper hand in Cuba, forcing Batista to flee the island on January 1, 1959.

In defense of freedom, capitalism, and innocent lives, in 1959 there came an anti-Castro uprising in Cuba’s Escambray Mountains. None fought harder than the small land owners and tenant farmers. Though poorly coordinated, people in the United States made secretive attempts to get supplies to the resistance. Which led to the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency sponsored Brigade 2506, a Cuban-exile invasion force in the Bay of Pigs operation in April 1961. Shortly after the invasion, U.S. President John F. Kennedy withdrew support, including abandoning support in the Escambray Mountains. The freedom fighters were outnumbered and outgunned. Many were imprisoned, some prisoners were executed, private property was confiscated, and crops were destroyed. Then, the Kremlin stepped in.

Carbonell addresses one of the most puzzling questions in history: why Washington D.C. launched the 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion, then just as quickly withdrew support?

The Soviets were deeply involved in the takeover of Cuba with ideological influences of Marxist-Leninist doctrine, turning the island into a base for communist subversion. The leader of the Soviet Union at the time, Nikita Khrushchev’s policies included sending a contingent of Soviet coaches to a military compound dubbed “KGB redoubt” near the Cuban city of Trinidad. The Soviet Union's premier intelligence and security agency from 1954 to 1991, the KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti) served the Communist Party in Cuba for domestic surveillance and conducting espionage.

The Soviet presence was greatly unwelcomed by the majority of people in Cuba, including my mother Meaghan Regina Blanco D’Otazzo who was encouraged by members of the Castro regime to learn the Russian language a couple of months before she left the island as an exile. To prevent monarchist resurgence, the Romanovs, Russia's imperial family, were "targeted" by the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, who seized power in the Revolution, replacing the provisional government with communist rule in 1917. Being from a wealthy, aristocratic Spanish family, my mother was terrified of the rifle-toting communist members of the Castro regime, including Ernesto “Che” Guevara, who took control of Cuban bank accounts, stealing her families assets as part of a sweeping socialist transformation. Yet, for one brief moment, my mother Meaghan claimed Ernesto “Che” Guevara was surprisingly nice to her while her passport was reviewed, even helping her to sit down seeing that she was pregnant with my sister Vivian, at the Jose Martí International Airport in Havana on June 22, 1962, the day she flew on Pan American Airways flight 2422 to Miami International Airport in Florida.

It was clear after the Cuban Missile Crisis, (a 13-day standoff in October 1962 when the United States discovered Soviet nuclear missiles in Cuba, which is ninety miles from America's shores, bringing the world to the brink of a nuclear war), that the United States of America was not going to war to overthrow Fidel Castro.

The author’s point of view in “And the Russians Stayed: The Sovietization of Cuba: A Personal Portrait” has everything to do with his firsthand experience of living through the Cuban Revolution and witnessing his beloved country become entwined with the U.S.S.R. during the Cold War. These events affected Cubans’ shift in national identity, and the erosion of their freedoms. The end result is that Carbonell was a militant in the fight for Cuba’s freedom and poured emotional depth and historical insight into this book. ...more

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La Belle Créole by Alina García-Lapuerta

La Belle Créole: The Cuban Countess Who Captivated Havana, Madrid, and Paris
by Alina García-Lapuerta (Goodreads Author)

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This biographical novel chronicles the life of my tremendously famous cousin Maria de la Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo (1789-1852), better known as ‘Mercedes’ or Condesa de Merlin, a key figure in 19th-century Parisian society. At the beginning of t This biographical novel chronicles the life of my tremendously famous cousin Maria de la Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo (1789-1852), better known as ‘Mercedes’ or Condesa de Merlin, a key figure in 19th-century Parisian society. At the beginning of the book, after the Author’s Note page, is a ‘Family Tree’ diagram page listing many of my relatives.

Born into an old aristocratic family in Cuba, Mercedes was raised by her great-grandparents Luisa Maria Herrera y Chacon [my great-great-great-great-grandaunt] and Juan Jose O’Farrill y Arriola {my great-great-great-great-great-great-granduncle}. She was considered a second-class citizen, a nascent Creole, (those of Spanish descent, born in the colonies), reinforced by the laws of Spain to differentiate themselves. Whereas, the term Peninsular was used for a Spaniard born in Spain.

In 1802, Mercedes arrived in Madrid, Spain, where her parents held a preferential place in the Spanish Court of King Carlos IV thanks to Minister Gonzalo O’Farrill y Herrera [my cousin]. Her brother Francisco Javier Santa Cruz y Montalvo, {IV Conde de San Juan de Jaruco and II Conde de Santa Cruz de Mopox}, [my cousin] acquired the greater part of the family fortune after their father’s death, including the passing on of Jesus Nazareno, an old sugar mill in Cuba, which was subject to ongoing litigation with some O’Farrill cousins regarding a boundary dispute. In 1808, Napoleon Bonaparte’s army invaded Spain and installed Joseph Bonaparte on the Spanish throne in place of the Bourbon King Ferdinand VII. Gonzalo O’Farrill y Herrera served as Minister of War under Joseph Bonaparte. During the fraught years of The Peninsular War (1807-1813), Spaniards’ War of Independence, Mercedes became the wife of Count Antoine Christopher Merlin of Thionville, a general in Joseph Bonaparte’s military entourage.

In 1813, the French were effectively expelled from Spain. Arriving in Paris in the aftermath of the French defeat, Mercedes deployed the skills she had learned firsthand from her mother, María Teresa Montalvo y O'Farrill (my cousin) and father Joaquin Santa Cruz y Cardenas, {III Conde de San Juan de Jaruco and I Conde de Santa Cruz de Mopox}, hosting a distinguished musical salon from her home on rue de Bondy. Taking on a starring role in the social milieu, the ‘Comtesse de Merlin’ re-created her life. Her musical evenings assured her a “passport to celebrity,” attracting notables like novelists Honore de Balzac and George Sand (Amantine Lucile Aurore Dupin de Francueil), and lending her own angelic voice often partnering with professionals such as opera singer Maria Malibran.

After the sale of the Jesus Nazareno sugar mill in her brother’s favor, Mercedes sought means of earning money with writing, seeking refuge in the home of her uncle Jose Lorenzo Montalvo y O’Farrill, {II Conde de Casa Montalvo}, [my cousin]. There she wrote her most popular novel, “Viaje a la Habana, “ a poetic reminiscence of her journey back to Havana introducing European readers to 19th-century Cuban society, and a censored version of the longer work “La Havane” (1844), an extensive analysis of the political, economic and social organization of Cuba. But “La Havane,” (1844) also incorporated female perspectives such as celebrating the special bond between mother and daughter based on her own experience. This narrative consisted of thirty-six letters mostly addressed to her French-born daughter Maria de la Mercedes Teresa Merlin y Santa Cruz [my cousin]. Her daughter, Madame Gentien de Dissay, was married to Firmin Gentien, a landowner and mayor of Dissay, a commune in Vienne, France.

Cuba's first published female author, Mercedes earned her place in literary history as primarily a travel writer. Her ability to adjust, adapt and recreate her life and her world, navigating multiple cultures and find fame as both a performer and a writer made her an unusually modern figure for her era. Drawing on Mercedes’ memoirs, travel writings, and personal correspondence, author Alina Garcia Lapuerta pieces together a remarkable woman’s tumultuous life story. ...more

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The Red Captain: The Life of Hugo O'Conor, Commandant Inspector of the Interior Provinces of New Spain (Museum Monograph) by Mark Santiago (1994-01-30)
by Mark Santiago

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Published by the Arizona Historical Society (AHS), this military history biography by Mark Santiago is about my Irish ancestors Hugo O’Conor y Ryan, Knight of Calatrava XCVI and his first cousin Alejandro O’Reilly y MacDowell, I Conde de O’Reilly.

Jud Published by the Arizona Historical Society (AHS), this military history biography by Mark Santiago is about my Irish ancestors Hugo O’Conor y Ryan, Knight of Calatrava XCVI and his first cousin Alejandro O’Reilly y MacDowell, I Conde de O’Reilly.

Judging on appearance alone, you can’t tell I have a streak of Irish in me — because I physically resemble some of the Spaniard women I’m related to, such as: Maria de la Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo; Maria Sosa y Diaz; Maria Salome Diaz y Sosa; Fabiola de Mora y Aragon; and Rita de Acosta y Hernandez de Alba. What makes it obvious is that I love eating French fries and potato chips all my life, and potatoes have been a staple crop in Ireland for many years.

Born in Dublin, Ireland, Hugo O’Conor y Ryan, a royal descendant of the last fully recognized 12th-century King of Connacht and High King of Ireland, joined the Hibernia Regiment (Regimiento de Infanteria de Hibernia), serving Spain under King Carlos III in military and civil administrative capacities. The flamboyant O’Conor’s tenacious efforts to secure the northern frontier of Spanish North America against Apache resistance and other colonial powers, commanded great respect from his troops. He knew how to fight the Apaches and other Indian groups, pursuing them not only to beat them, but also rescuing the women, children, horses and cattle they had captured.

Most important, colonial Spanish officer Hugo O’Conor established the fortress of the Presidio de San Agustin del Tucson, a northernmost outpost of Spain in the New World on August 20, 1775, to protect the route along the Santa Cruz River from Apache raiders and to extend trade routes to the east, north and west. This Arizona settlement eventually evolved into the city of Tucson, which every August celebrates its anniversary with a series of free and low cost events bringing back the pioneer spirit to mark the city’s founding.

“The Red Captain: The Life of Hugo O'Conor, Commandant Inspector of the Interior Provinces of New Spain” portrays O’Conor as an agent of imperialism, who regarded the Apaches as “barbarians.” He was nicknamed El Capitan Colorado (The Red Captain) by the Apaches because of his red hair, the color of his uniform, and his bloody exploits. Here is where the history isn’t pretty. At times brutal, Tucson’s founder shaped and leveraged the American frontier, meeting the indigenous resistance with murder, dispossession, enslavement and deportation of the captives. And ultimately, the Native American population remained a formidable obstacle to Spanish expansion in the new world long after O’Conor, was gone. ...more

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The Sugar King of Havana by John Paul Rathbone

The Sugar King of Havana: The Rise and Fall of Julio Lobo, Cuba's Last Tycoon
by John Paul Rathbone

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Thoroughly researched and creatively crafted, “The Sugar King of Havana: The Rise and Fall of Julio Lobo, Cuba's Last Tycoon” by John Paul Rathbone presents Lobo’s larger-than-life dramatic biography in pre-revolutionary Cuba. Painting a nuanced pict Thoroughly researched and creatively crafted, “The Sugar King of Havana: The Rise and Fall of Julio Lobo, Cuba's Last Tycoon” by John Paul Rathbone presents Lobo’s larger-than-life dramatic biography in pre-revolutionary Cuba. Painting a nuanced picture of the haute bourgeoisie, Rathbone interweaves personal stories shared by his mother Margarita Sanchez y Sanchez, who was part of the same upper-class social circle as the daughters of Julio Lobo, which were her friends: Leonor Lobo y Montalvo [my cousin], and Maria Luisa Lobo y Montalvo [my cousin].

Discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492, Cuba was known as the ‘Pearl of the Antilles,’ its city of Havana being a hot-spot for celebrities and wealthy tourists. Born in Caracas, Venezuela, Julio Lobo y Olavarría (1898–1983) became a sugar tycoon in Cuba during the first half of the 20th century. In his heyday, the flamboyant Lobo dated famous movie actresses Joan Fontaine; Esther Williams, who he filled one of his estate’s swimming pools with perfume to welcome her to Havana; and Bette Davis, whom he made a proposal of marriage. In 1931, he married my cousin Maria de la Esperanza Montalvo y Lasa, (the niece of my famous socialite cousin Catalina de Lasa y del Rio; and great-great-great granddaughter of Tomas Barreto y Pedroso, I Conde de Casa-Barreto, and Maria Josefa Cardenas y Santa Cruz, the grandmother of my cousin Maria de la Mercedes Santa Cruz y Montalvo, Condesa de Merlin), whose ancestry opened aristocratic doors. Including, his sister Helena Lobo y Olavarria married Mario Montoro y Saladrigas, the son of Herminia Saladrigas y Lunar and Rafael Montoro y Valdes, I Marques de Montoro, the grandfather of Rafael Montoro y de la Torre, II Marques de Montoro who married my cousin Albertina O’Farrill y de la Campa.

His decades-long reign, during the period Cuba led the world in sugar production, came to a dramatic end in October 1960. Lobo had a meeting with Ernesto "Che" Guevara, who offered him a position in the Cuban sugar industry under the Castro socialist government similar to that of a general manager.

This last great businessmen of Cuba, Lobo was the quintessential symbol of capitalism and could not exist in the country that Castro and Guevara wanted to create. He left Cuba, which led to the nationalization/confiscation of his private property, estates and assets: fourteen refineries; paintings of Bartolome Esteban Murillo, Diego Rivera and Salvador Dalí; and his large collection of Napoleonica outside of France, with original papers, artwork, priceless relics and books.

In conclusion, Lobo’s vast memorabilia of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Corsican soldier turned Emperor of France is housed in “La Dolce Dimora,” a Florentine Renaissance style mansion turned Museo Napoleonico (Calle San Miguel between Calles Ronda y Mazon) near the Universidad de la Habana. ...more

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Havana: History and Architecture of a Romantic City
by Maria Luisa Lobo Montalvo

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Posthumously published, “Havana: History and Architecture of a Romantic City” by my cousin Maria Luisa Lobo y Montalvo, offers an illustrated look into the history and architecture, mostly reflecting social class or standing, of Havana — part of whic ...more

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That Furious Lesbian by Robert A. Schanke

That Furious Lesbian: The Story of Mercedes de Acosta (Theater in the Americas)
by Robert A. Schanke

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The biography “That Furious Lesbian: The Story of Mercedes de Acosta” by theatre historian Robert A. Schanke, celebrates the life of my cousin Mercedes de Acosta y Hernandez de Alba, an author, poet, and gifted playwright, rather known for her many c The biography “That Furious Lesbian: The Story of Mercedes de Acosta” by theatre historian Robert A. Schanke, celebrates the life of my cousin Mercedes de Acosta y Hernandez de Alba, an author, poet, and gifted playwright, rather known for her many close relationships with prominent women in the early 20th century.

Drawing on archival materials and interviews, Schanke offers an analysis of Mercedes’ often overlooked body of work, which included poetry, novels, screenplays, and plays. Two of Mercedes’ plays, “Jehanne d’Arc” and “Sandro Botticelli,” were produced starring Eva Le Gallienne, the actress she had an intense romantic affair with. The 1930s were riddled with failed screenplay efforts for Mercedes. She wrote the film script “Desperate” for famed actress Greta Garbo, another one of her lovers. The role required Garbo to wear pants for over half of the film, disguising herself as a boy to avoid being recognized by the police … and MGM production chief Irving Thalberg nixed that idea. A couple of years went by, and then Mercedes adapted “Jehanne d’Arc” into a screenplay with Greta Garbo playing the lead role, and it wasn’t produced.

Schanke examines her Spanish bloodlines, aristocratic status and the complex background of her close-knit family, giving readers insight into her relationships with her siblings. Case in Point: Mercedes most idolized her older, world famous, socialite sister Rita de Acosta [my cousin] who tipped shop assistants with loose, unset emeralds that she carried in her pockets. This delicate bond between sisters was tested when Mercedes tried to break Rita of her habit of extravagant tipping after every dress fitting in Paris, France. But there was no changing Rita, who responded frankly, “What do you expect me to give these wonderful women if I don’t give them emeralds? Surely you don't expect me to insult them with money.”

This book covers a lot of ground on Mercedes’ vibrant life, from her wealthy, upper-class upbringing in New York (traveling in the same social circles as the Astors and Vanderbilts) to her love affairs with the era's most famous actresses Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich. An important figure in homosexual history, Mercedes had an openly, uninhibited lesbian lifestyle and a (1920-1935) fifteen-year unconsummated marriage to Abram Poole. Even at the cost of limiting her career opportunities, she bravely carried on close personal relationships with women. ...more

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Here Lies the Heart by Mercedes de Acosta

Here Lies the Heart (Homosexuality)
by Mercedes de Acosta

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This tell-all name-dropping autobiography, “Here Lies the Heart,” complete with photos of family and notable friends, by my cousin Mercedes de Acosta y Hernandez de Alba (1893-1968), a pure {Spaniard and a brave and proud feminine lesbian just like m This tell-all name-dropping autobiography, “Here Lies the Heart,” complete with photos of family and notable friends, by my cousin Mercedes de Acosta y Hernandez de Alba (1893-1968), a pure {Spaniard and a brave and proud feminine lesbian just like me], speaks volumes to me.

Most of her life, Mercedes de Acosta dealt with the turmoil of her same-sex desires and struggles for acceptance. Evident in the passionate plays she wrote, her women characters struggled with unfulfilled marriages, divorce, and a suppressed identity.

In 1905, at an early age, Mercedes was thrown into a state of ecstasy seeing her actress friend Maude Adams perform the title role in Peter Pan on stage in New York. Years later, she began an affair with Russian-American actress Alla Nazimova. At times, Mercedes’ chalk white face, deep-set eyes, thin red lips, and jet black hair against her mannish pants and pointed shoes trimmed with buckles, gave her a vampire appearance. In 1920 after marrying (Abram Poole - divorced 1935), Mercedes became involved in a relationship with actress Eva Le Gallienne. This led to Mercedes writing two plays for Eva, "Sandro Botticelli" produced in New York and "Jehanne d’Arc" produced in Paris, France, which garnished mixed reviews and financial loss ending their relationship. Over the next decade Mercedes was involved with famous actresses Greta Garbo and Marlene Dietrich, modern dancer Isadora Duncan, and Russian ballerina Tamara Karsavina.

Some critics have said Mercedes’ candid revelations of her relationships with women, which barely alludes to homosexuality, were exaggerated though evidence of personal letters and photographs suggests the relationships were genuine. It was shocking for Hollywood’s Golden Age of the “Sewing Circle,” a phrase used by actresses Marlene Dietrich and Alla Nazimova to describe the group of lesbian and bisexual women (some closeted) writers and actresses and their relationships in celebrity circles. Despite having a reputation that was not appreciated by everyone, Mercedes remained kind and loyal to most everyone with whom she crossed paths.

It is a fact, Mercedes had “known a number of extraordinary and beautiful women the world over,” but her sister Rita, seemed to her “more striking, more unfailing in perfect grace and beauty than any other woman.”

Most memorable to Mercedes was the time Rita carried a fluttering black fan and wore an evening dress “cut down to the waistline at the back with only two narrow straps over the shoulder to hold it up.” As the lights came on after the first act, in the old Metropolitan Opera House in New York, Rita was sitting in an exclusive box seat, a ring called “The Diamond Horseshoe.” Her back was half turned to the audience, and a gasp was heard followed by a flutter of binoculars and lorgnettes lifted to get a glimpse of her. As early as April 1913, this type of evening dress with an exaggeratedly low back was copied by fashionable women all over the world in connection with Rita de Acosta.

Those celebrity shindigs in Los Angeles and New York. VIP seating with complimentary drinks and food in the fanciest restaurants in Los Angeles and New York City at celebrity-driven events such as book signings, fashion shows, restaurant openings and panel discussions; complimentary VIP seating to concerts of pop music artists; complimentary first row of orchestra seats of Broadway show previews and openings; complimentary tickets to cast and crew attended movie screenings at theaters in New York, and in screening rooms on the lots of the major studios in Los Angeles … Am I referring to my life or Mercedes de Acosta’s life?

I am passionate about this book, reading about a life so similar to mine in many instances, not just for being a woman who loves women as a woman. Because much of my life I have worked, not only as a dancer, but as an actress and producer in the Los Angeles and New York theater scenes, written books and have had close friendships with female dancers and actresses. ...more

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