Patricia Montandon

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Patricia Montandon
Born (1928-12-26) December 26, 1928 (age 95)
Spouses
Howard Groves
​
(divorced)​
​
(divorced)​
Alfred Wilsey
​
(divorced)​
ChildrenSean Wilsey
Parent(s)Charles Clay Montandon
Myrtle Taylor

Patricia "Pat" Montandon (born December 26, 1928) is an American author and self-made socialite.[1]

Early life[edit]

Pat Montandon was born in Texas on December 26, 1928, to Myrtle Taylor and her husband Charles Clay Montandon, an itinerant Nazarene Church minister.[a] Montandon grew up in Oklahoma during the Great Depression. She lived in San Francisco in the 1960s, where she became known for her talent for hosting memorable parties and for her relationship with Frank Sinatra.[2]

Roundtable Luncheons[edit]

In the 1970s, Montandon began hosting roundtable luncheons that frequently included discussion of controversial topics of the day. That drew a range of well-known figures, such as Andy Warhol, Danielle Steel, Joan Baez, Eldridge Cleaver,[3] and Frank Sinatra.[4] Her lunchtime gatherings continue to this day.

Career[edit]

Upon moving to San Francisco in 1960, Montandon worked during summer, managing a Joseph Magnin clothing store. She later hosted a TV show and became a newspaper columnist for the San Francisco Examiner.[5]

In 1979, Montandon conceived the idea of the Napa Valley Wine Auction. She lent her idea to Napa Valley vintners, with her portion of the proceeds benefiting two Napa Valley hospitals.[2]

Montandon is also the author of numerous non-fiction books, including The New York Times bestseller: How to Be a Party Girl,[6] The Intruders,[7] Whispers from God: A Life Beyond Imaginings,[8] and Oh the Hell of it All.[9] Other books include Celebrities and Their Angels and Making Friends, the true story of two 11-year-old girls, Katya from Moscow and Star from San Francisco. Her most recent work, a memoir, titled: “Peeing on Hot Coals” was released in 2014.[10]

Humanitarian works[edit]

Montandon is an advocate for women's rights. In 1970, she founded The Name Choice Center to advocate for women's legal right to retain their surnames after marriage.[11]: 60 

In 1982, Montandon founded a peace group called Children as Teachers for Peace (later renamed Children as the Peacemakers)[12] and has made 37 international trips with grade-school children. She has met with 26 world leaders, including China's Premier Zhao Ziyang, Chancellor Helmut Kohl, Pope John Paul II, the late Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland of Norway, former Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, and Mother Teresa. She collects letters written by schoolchildren urging an end to nuclear proliferation, and has delivered food and supplies to children in Russia and Ethiopia.[13]

In 1987, Montandon designed the Banner of Hope. Now a mile long, it is a memorial inscribed with the names and ages of children killed in war. The banner was first exhibited in the Kremlin at an International Women's Congress.[14]

In 2018, Montandon renamed her organization Peace To The Planet. The organization aims to provide children with a platform to advocate against gun violence and global warming. Peace To The Planet is completing a new banner, similar to the Banner of Hope, showing the faces and names of children killed by gun violence.[citation needed]

Awards and honors[edit]

Montandon was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize three successive years and received the UN Peace Messenger award in 1987.[15]

In 2014, Dr. Jitu Rajgor founded a women’s health facility in Montandon's honor at his clinic in Ahmedabad, India.

Personal life[edit]

Montandon was married three times. Her first marriage, to Howard Groves in 1947, lasted 12 years. In the 1960s, she had a short-lived marriage to attorney Melvin Belli.

In 1969, she married butter baron and billionaire Al Wilsey, and the next year she had her only child, Sean Wilsey, who would become a best-selling author. As a society wife, Montandon "acquired a reputation for giving the best parties and round-table luncheons."[16] Al Wilsey later had an affair with Montandon's married best friend, Dede Traina (born Diane Dow Buchanan), before he filed for divorce in 1980 in order to marry Dede.[17] The divorce proceedings played out publicly.[18]

In 1975, Montandon won a lawsuit against Triangle Publications for allegedly damaging her reputation.[19]

In popular culture[edit]

Author Armistead Maupin caricatured her as society columnist "Prue Giroux" in his Tales of the City series.[16][13]

Published works[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The manuscript version of her birth certificate can be read Patsy Sue or Patsy Lue but the typescript version is Patsy Lue.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Kuczynski, Alex (2007-08-26). "Mother's Day". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  2. ^ a b Siler, Julia Flynn (2007). The House of Mondavi: The Rise and Fall of an American Wine Dynasty. Penguin. ISBN 9781592402595. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  3. ^ Garchik, Leah (2014-09-29). "Eldridge Cleaver's gift to a penthouse dweller". SFGATE. Retrieved 2023-05-11.
  4. ^ SFGATE, Andrew Chamings (2022-03-06). "The last party on Lombard Street". SFGATE. Retrieved 2022-11-16.
  5. ^ "Clipped From The San Francisco Examiner". The San Francisco Examiner. 1980-06-10. p. 19. Retrieved 2022-09-27.
  6. ^ Patricia Montandon; Rudolf E. Noble (1968). How to Be a Party Girl. McGraw Hill Book Company. ISBN 978-1470119065.
  7. ^ Montandon, Pat (1975). The Intruders. Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. ISBN 0-698-10636-9.
  8. ^ Patricia Montandon (2008). Whispers From God: A Life Beyond Imaginings. Harper Paperbacks. ISBN 978-0061373923.
  9. ^ a b Kuczynski, Alex (27 August 2007). "Book Review: Oh the Hell of It All". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  10. ^ "Pat Montandon - Peeing On Hot Coals". Book Passage. September 25, 2014.
  11. ^ Patricia Montandon (2007). Oh the Hell of it All. Harper. ISBN 978-0061146060.
  12. ^ “Peace Organizations, Past and Present; a Survey and Directory”, by Robert S. Meyer. McFarland, 1988, p. 79. She auctioned her couture wardrobe, jewels and furs to fund the organization and its many accomplishments.
  13. ^ a b Carolyne Zinko (April 15, 2007). "DOUBLE TROUBLE / High anxiety in high society?". San Francisco Chronicle.
  14. ^ http://instantweb.com/w/worldtrust/news.html. Retrieved 11.30.11.
  15. ^ "Pat Montandon". Huffington Post. Retrieved January 13, 2019.
  16. ^ a b Robin Abcarian (April 9, 2007). "Title sounds familiar: Now, it's mom's turn". Los Angeles Times.
  17. ^ Holson, Laura M. (September 24, 2016). "Dede Wilsey Is the Defiant Socialite". The New York Times. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  18. ^ Kakutani, Michiko (May 27, 2005). "A Rich Boy's Poor Childhood". The New York Times. Retrieved October 15, 2019.
  19. ^ Newark Advocate, October 15, 1975: She received in Triangle Publications vs. Montandon (75-195) a $150,000 judgment for publishing a statement that was or had been a call girl.
  20. ^ "HOW TO BE A PARTY GIRL by Pat. Montandon | Kirkus Reviews". kirkusreviews.com. Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
  21. ^ Fleming, Michael (6 August 2003). "'Intruders' casts spell over Focus". Variety. Retrieved 15 October 2019.
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