Kevin Kwan, Author of Crazy Rich Asians, on His Brief, Memorable Friendship With Gloria Vanderbilt
Before Kevin Kwan was famous for his hit Crazy Rich Asians novels, he was an editor-an editor who happened to work with Gloria Vanderbilt on her memoir It Seemed Important at the Time, helping her choose which photos to include in order to tell the stories of her many loves over her life. Here is the story of Kwan's brief working relationship with the late icon, as told to Town & Country shortly after her death on June 17, 2019.
At the time that Gloria was writing her book, It Seemed Important at the Time, I was working as a creative and photography consultant. I had worked with people like Elizabeth Taylor and Michael Korda, who actually introduced to Gloria Vanderbilt and her project. He was the editor of the book itself and I was brought on to help to curate photography and take care of all of the lovely rights and clearances for every image that was in the book.
In order to choose the right images for the story, I had the privilege of going through some of her amazing, private albums. They were just a treasure trove. I never met Gloria in person, but when I had questions, which of course I did, I was told that the best thing to do was to email her. Which of course I did.
I got most of my responses from her in the middle of the night. Answers to my questions would regularly come in at 2 or 3 a.m. She was a bit of a night owl. Every now and then I would ask questions and the answers that came back would also contain bits and pieces of her personality. She'd make a comment that was sort of brash, she was he was always full of these little anecdotes, little observations, about the people in her life.
She had collected her photos in these beautiful, leather-bound volumes. One book was bound in leather and it was stamped on the cover-embossed-with the words "far away."
When you opened the album it was the most beautiful set of images, pictures of her in what looks like a enchanted cottage out of a fairytale-a dreamy place in upstate New York with beautiful windows overlooking the woods, and spectacular gardens. And of course, in the album are pictures of her snuggling with a toddler Anderson Cooper.
It turns out that the photoshoot had been done by the great Toni Frisell, and the whole shoot had been put into this lovely album-it symbolizes my lasting memory of all of the albums I saw. There was something magical about it.
I had wanted to be absolutely professional in our interactions, so I my emails to her I just asked questions that I needed to ask in order to help with securing the rights or something like that.
But finally, when the project was at an end, in my final email, I paid her a compliment. I told her how much I had loved her books, especially Once Upon A Time, which was her first memoir, and I told her how much I loved her art. I never got a response. Which I think is pretty perfect. When I finally got personal, the curtain went down.
It was a privilege to work on the project from start to finish-it was a privilege dealing with all of the incredible artists and photographers that she had collaborated with over the years, and, of course, a privilege to work with Gloria. It was just one of these fun little gems that I got to work on in another life.
Years later, now that I've written books of my own, I realize that there is an enormous parallel between Gloria Vanderbilt, her life, and the world that I write about in Crazy Rich Asians. There's so much kinship in her experience, from being famous from the day she was born-having a family that was a household name.
I would say that she has the most in common with Astrid, who is very much a "poor little rich girl." She's he girl born with everything, the girl who really tries to hide from her prominence and who is just looking for love, who is so sheltered that her only means of rebellion was how she dressed-she rebels in her own way.
But I think Gloria far exceeded Astrid, you know, in terms of being her own woman.
Looking back at Gloria's life, the circumstances she was born into, she was set up to fail at being an individual. She triumphed over the accident of her birth and the tragedy that went along with it. Gloria was a rebel. She was an innovator, a curator of experiences beyond the aesthetic at every instance of her life-and so she lived a truly extraordinary one.
If I had to pick a word to describe who Gloria Vanderbilt was, it would be artist. She was a consummate artist in her work, but also in her life, in the way she lived. She brought artistry to everything from the way she dressed to the people she loved. The way she collaborated with photographers on photo shoots for example was so much more inventive than a lot of other subjects at that same time period that I've worked with. Creativity emanated from everything she did.
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