Joan Didion’s Life in Objects

Joan Didion’s estate sale auction is set to take place next week on Wednesday, November 16th in Hudson, New York. Select items have been on display since October 31st and will remain so until Tuesday. “Everything in the sale helps to paint the picture of how she lived in her private space,” said Lisa Thomas, the director of the Stair Galleries fine arts department.

Didion passed away last year at 87 years old due to complications from Parkinson’s disease. The proceeds from the sale will go to the Sacramento Historical Society and Parkinson’s research and patient care at Columbia University. 

Didion was instantly recognizable with her sunglasses on and cigarette in hand. In 2014 she sold two pairs of her famous sunglasses for $2,500 each to help finance a documentary about her life. Despite always insisting she was not a style icon, appearances by Anna Wintour, the editor in chief of Vogue, in the documentary say otherwise. Several pairs of her sunglasses will be included in the sale next week.

Didion left an impression on both people she met personally and through her essays, books and screenplays. Many longtime fans hope to take walk away with even the smallest memento of her life. Many items in the sale are known from her writings and anticipated to draw competitive bids.

For more information see Anna Kodé “Joan Didion’s Life in Objects”, New York Times, October 28, 2022.

Special thanks to Lewis Saret (Attorney, Washington, D.C.) for bringing this article to my attention.  

https://lawprofessors.typepad.com/trusts_estates_prof/2022/11/joan-didions-life-in-objects.html