C.Z. Guest Was a Society Queen Who Made a Career Out of Gardening
Among Truman Capote’s swans was C.Z. Guest, one of his few friends that continued to speak with him after the release of his explosive book excerpt.
A native of Boston, Guest was born Lucy Douglas Cochrane. (According to the Associated Press, “C.Z.” was a version of her siblings’ nickname, which was Sissy.) She wasn’t much of a student but was one of the most high-profile Boston socialites, according to Time. After making her debut in 1937, she pursued acting. She was in a revival of the Ziegfeld Follies, the New York Times reported, but had no success breaking into film.
C.Z. Guest with Anita Colby at the Knickerbocker Ball, held at the Waldorf-Astoria in 1952.
In 1947 she married Winston Frederick Churchill Guest, a steel heir, polo player, and second cousin of Winston Churchill, at Ernest Hemingway’s home in Cuba, the New York Times wrote. Hemingway was the best man.
Guest had a very vibrant life and was said to have been painted by both Diego Rivera (nude) and Salvador Dali (in a twin set). In 1962 she was on the cover of Time, with the headline “What It’s Like Today in Society.” She lived on a 150-acre property in Long Island, the magazine reported, and a Manhattan apartment on Sutton Place. She was considered one of the best-dressed women of her era and wore pieces by designers like Givenchy, Adolfo, and Mainbocher. Her circle of friends was varied enough to include Bruce Weber, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, Andy Warhol, and Estée Lauder.
Guest at Villa Artemis, her home in Palm Beach.
“I’m not ashamed of the way I live,” she told writer Sally Quinn in the Washington Post in 1977. “Look at the jobs I’ve given people. If you have money and servants then you’re helping somebody. If rich people didn’t spend money the country would be in much worse shape than it is today. If you have money then you give people pleasure. I wish I had more money. I’d spend more.”
Guest’s greatest passion was riding. After she was injured in an accident, she turned her energy towards gardening and began writing a column on the topic that was syndicated by 350 newspapers. She gave frank advice and had loyal readers. At that time, it was very unusual for a woman of her social standing to write professionally. In 1976, she published a book, “First Garden.” The introduction was written by Truman Capote and Cecil Beaton provided illustrations.
C.Z. with her husband Winston Frederick Churchill Guest in 1953.
While promoting the book, she was appalled by an interviewer who asked her if she was rich. “Well, do you know what I did then? I said to her, ‘Have you ever had an abortion?’” she recalled in the Washington Post. “’Naturally she looked shocked so I said, ‘My dear, you have just asked me the rudest question one human being can ask another. So I thought I would ask you the same kind of question.’”
She died in 2003 at age 83.