Emily Post
Writer
Name at birth: Emily Price
Emily Post was an American writer and socialite who became the nation's most famous authority on how to behave graciously in society and business. Early in her career she wrote society columns and travelogues of pre-World War I Europe. Post published her first novel in 1904 and had a bestselling non-fiction book in 1909, but it was her 1922 book, Etiquette: The Blue Book of Social Usage (also Etiquette in Society, in Business, in Politics and at Home) that made her career. The success of the book led to a radio show and a syndicated newspaper column, and in 1946 she founded the Emily Post Institute for the Study of Gracious Living. By the time Post died in 1960, her book on etiquette had been revised many times and was in its 89th printing. The institute and the brand name continued after her death, directed first by Elizabeth Lindley Post, then by Peggy Grayson Post.
Extra credit: Many sources give Post's birth year as 1873; the Emily Post Institute site says 1872... Modern versions of Emily Post include Judith "Miss Manners" Martin and Martha Stewart.
Four Good Links
The Emily Post Institute
Answers to etiquette questions
Etiquette in Society
Excerpts from her famous book
Post, Emily Price
Brief profile from Britannica's Women in American History
Emily Post is Dead Here at 86
Reprinted obituary from the New York Times (free registration needed)
Vital Stats
Birth
Birthplace
Death
25 September 1960
(age 87)
Best Known As
Mid-20th century American expert on etiquette
