In The Shadow Of A Monument
The only child of Brooke Astor, the "Queen of New York", (a powerful force who inherited the enormous Astor fortune), Anthony Marshall became a decorated Marine, a diplomat and US ambassador, a codebreaker, a covert spy with the newly formed CIA, a special assistant to the U2 program during the Cold War and dedicated to the global conservation of animal and floral habitat. Always interested in the arts, he and his third wife co-produced two Tony Award Broadway plays in the early 2000s. Marshall was the stepson of Vincent Astor, one of the wealthiest men in America, and witnessed the life of the ultra-privileged in New York City firsthand.
In 2006, his carefully directed life was on the verge of being destroyed by a criminal accusation from his own son. Heartbroken, Marshall read the formal wording of the accusation: "elder abuse" of his mother who was then one hundred four years old. What followed were years of constant tabloid sensationalism and negative press that destroyed Marshall's reputation and damaged his relationships with family and friends. After a six months long trial, he was sentenced to 1- 3 years in a New York State prison when he was eighty-nine years old.
Together with his beloved wife Charlene, he faced what he called "the greatest challenge of my life" since landing his Marine platoon onto Blue Beach at Iwo Jima on D+1. These two survived this brutal attack together with their souls intact and their love stronger than ever.
These are his stories.
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