Libby Holman

I learned that the Treetops Estate, on the Greenwich/Stamford border, was once home to early blues singer Libby Holman... And that her ashes are scattered on her estate... She died in 1971 when she committed suicide by carbon monoxide poisoning. What!

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Interesting bits:

Death:

"On June 18, 1971, Holman was found nearly dead in the front seat of her Rolls Royce by her household staff. She was taken to the hospital where she died hours later.Holman's death was officially ruled a suicide due to acute carbon monoxide poisoning.

According to the Holman biography Dreams That Money Can Buy by Jon Bradshaw, few of Holman's friends believed the coroner's report that she had committed suicide. Some of the circumstances didn't add up, in particular the question of how the slight, aging Holman could even open and close the heavy, manually-operated garage door. The book was described by the New York Times reviewer as a "flat, unsympathetic narration of Miss Holman's life there are few insights to be had". For many years, Holman reportedly suffered from depression over the deaths of President Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King, the recent presidential election loss by Eugene McCarthy and the illness and deterioration of her friend Jane Bowles."

Husband's death

"In 1932, during a 21st birthday party Reynolds gave at Reynolds for his friend and flying buddy Charles Gideon Hill, Jr., a first cousin to Reynolds's first wife Anne Ludlow Cannon Reynolds, Holman revealed to her husband that she was pregnant. A tense argument ensued. Moments later, a shot was heard; friends soon discovered Reynolds bleeding and unconscious with a gunshot wound to the head. The authorities initially ruled the shooting a suicide, but a coroner's inquiry led them to rule it a murder. Holman and Albert Bailey "Ab" Walker, a friend of Reynolds's and a supposed lover of Holman's, were indicted for murder.

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"Libby's only child, Christopher Smith Topper Reynolds (January 10, 1933 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - August 7, 1950), died tragically as a teenager. Libby had given her son permission to go mountain climbing with afriend on California's highest peak Mount Whitney, not knowing that the boys were ill-prepared for the adventure. Both perished. Those close to Holman claim she never forgave herself. In 1952 she created the Christopher Reynolds Foundation in his memory."

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Suit Filed Over Sale Of Connecticut Land
Published: October 28, 2000
"In the lawsuit, filed Tuesday in State Superior Court here, the developer, Brickman Associates, said it had agreed to buy the property for $15 million and it accused International Paper of backing out of the deal.

The Treetops property, a 110-acre plot that includes a 33-room house, was once owned by the torch singer and actress Libby Holman, who died in 1971."

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Torch Singer's Estate May Become a Connecticut Park

"The estate has an elegant and gaudy history. During the 1940's and 50's, parties given by Ms. Holman were attended by celebrities like Elizabeth Taylor, Mike Todd, Truman Capote, Tennessee Williams, Roddy McDowall, Imogene Coca and Martha Raye.

The property is also the site of an annual spring daffodil show. Ms. Holman planted thousands of the flowers and the corporate owners have opened the estate one weekend a year to let the public see the blooms.

In the spring, Treetops, the estate of the late singer and actress Libby Holman in Greenwich and Stamford, Conn., is a carpet of daffodils. (Chris Maynard for The New York Times) Map of Connecticut highlighting Treetops: Treetops is one of Fairfield County's largest undeveloped tracts."

-Torch Singer Suicided-

-Excellent page & biography of Libby -