Nina Auchincloss Straight | |
|---|---|
| Born | Nina Gore Auchincloss (1937-01-10)January 10, 1937 (age 89) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Education | Potomac School Miss Porter's School |
| Alma mater | Bryn Mawr College Columbia University American University |
| Occupations | Author, journalist |
| Spouses | |
| Children | Hugh Auchincloss Steers Ivan Steers Burr Steers |
| Parent(s) | Hugh Dudley Auchincloss, Jr. Nina S. Gore |
| Relatives | Gore Vidal (half-brother) Janet Auchincloss Rutherfurd (half-sister) Louis Auchincloss (cousin) Hugh D. Auchincloss Sr. (grandfather) |
Nina Gore Auchincloss Straight (formerlySteers, born January 10, 1937)[1] is an American author, journalist, and socialite.[2] She is the mother of writer/directorBurr Steers and artistHugh Auchincloss Steers, half-sister ofGore Vidal, step-sister ofFirst LadyJacqueline Onassis and socialite PrincessLee Radziwill.[3]
Nina Gore Auchincloss is the daughter ofHugh Dudley Auchincloss, Jr. and the formerNina S. Gore. Her father was an American stockbroker and lawyer, and a cousin of the novelist and lawyer,Louis Auchincloss. Her father had previously been married to Maya de Chrapovitsky, a Russian noblewoman with whom he had one son, Hugh Dudley Auchincloss III. Her mother had previously been married toEugene Luther Vidal, a commercial aviation pioneer, with whom she also had one son, the writerGore Vidal. Hugh and Nina had married in 1935 and besides young Nina, the marriage produced one additional child, Thomas Gore Auchincloss.[4] Young Nina's parents divorced in 1941, and a year later, Hugh remarried for the third and final time toJanet Lee Bouvier, in 1942. Janet was the mother of future First LadyJacqueline Lee Bouvier andCaroline Lee Bouvier. Nina's father had two more children with Janet, half-siblings to young Nina,Janet Jennings Auchincloss and James Lee Auchincloss. Hugh and Janet remained married until his death in 1976. Also in 1942, Nina's mother remarried for the third and final time toRobert Olds, but only remained married a short time until Robert's early death ofpneumonia in 1943, after hospitalization forconstrictive pericarditis andLibman-Sacks endocarditis,[5][6] at the age of 46, just prior to his sonRobin Olds' graduation from West Point.[7]
Nina's paternal grandparents wereHugh Dudley Auchincloss, Sr., a merchant and financier, and Emma Brewster (née Jennings) Auchincloss, the daughter ofOliver Burr Jennings, one of the original stockholders inStandard Oil.[8] Her maternal grandparents wereU.S. SenatorThomas Gore and his wife Nina Belle (née Kay) Gore.[2]
In 1955, Auchincloss made her debut at a formal ball given by her father and stepmother Janet (who lived inMcLean, Virginia), at their summer home,Hammersmith Farm inNewport, Rhode Island. The ball was attended by over 700 guests.[9] In 1957, she inherited a $225,000 (equivalent to $2,519,000 in 2024) trust.[2]
Nina attended thePotomac School in Washington, D.C., andMiss Porter's School inFarmington, Connecticut. She attended and graduated fromBryn Mawr College, just outside of Philadelphia.[10]
Nina subsequently attended and earned amaster's degree in journalism fromColumbia University in 1961. While she attended Columbia, she worked part-time for columnistCharles Bartlett. In 1964, she earned anM.A. in history from Columbia, her second degree from Columbia. From 1963 until 1971, Nina worked as Washington correspondent andbureau chief[11] for theChattanooga Times, while raising her three sons.[2]
In 1981, her novelAriabella: The First, was published byRandom House. At the time, she was in her second year of evening law school atAmerican University and was working on a biography of her maternal grandfather, Oklahoma Sen.Thomas Pryor Gore.[2]
In 1957, Nina marriedNewton Ivan Steers, Jr., who was 20 years her senior.[10] Jackie Kennedy was her matron of honor at the wedding[10] and then Sen.John F. Kennedy was one of the groomsmen.[12] During their marriage, Steers became a member of theMaryland State Senate.[11] Together, they had three sons:
Nina and Steers separated in 1972[11] and divorced in 1974.[15] In 1976, Steers was elected to theU.S. House of Representatives fromMaryland's 8th congressional district. Steers remarried to Inge Wirsich Irwin in 1978, to whom he remained married until his death in 1993.[12]
In 1974, Nina married her second husband,Michael Whitney Straight, 21 years her senior and a member of theWhitney family who was a publisher and novelist. Straight was the son ofWillard Dickerman Straight, an investment banker who died in Michael's infancy, andDorothy Payne Whitney, a philanthropist. After his mother's remarriage toLeonard Knight Elmhirst, Straight lived in England. The wedding was attended byJanet Auchincloss,Jackie Kennedy,Renata Adler,Beatrice Straight, andPeter Cookson.[3] Nina and Michael's marriage ended in divorce in 1998. He later married Katharine Gould, a child psychiatrist and art historian, to whom he remained married until his death in 2004.[15]