Who is Meryl Gordon? Brooke Astor’s biography writer calls out Anderson Cooper for copying her work

The author of Mrs Aster Regrets, Meryl Gordon recently called out CNN host Anderson Cooper for copying her work in his upcoming book Astor: The Rise and Fall of an American Fortune. Meryl said that she is disappointed in Anderson as he failed to research new things and majorly relied on her work for his upcoming book.

Meryl Gordon opened up about her disappointment in a recent interview with novelist Doug Brunt on his podcast Dedicated with Doug Brunt. The episode of Meryl Gordon's interview was released on Tuesday, September 12, 2023, in which she said,

"I have read the book and I have very complicated feelings about it. I am disappointed that he added so little to the story."

For those unaware, Meryl is a bestselling author and an award-winning journalist. She is the author of Mrs. Astor Regrets and Phantom of Fifth Avenue.

---

Who is Meryl Gordon? Know all about her

Meryl is a journalism professor and a bestselling author. Other than this, she also regularly contributes to Vanity Fair magazine. As per Gordon's website,

"She is the author of the New York Times bestselling Mrs. Astor Regrets and Phantom of Fifth Avenue, a Wall Street Journal bestseller. She is an award-winning journalist and a regular contributor to Vanity Fair. She is on the graduate journalism faculty at New York University’s Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute. She is considered an expert on “elder abuse” and has appeared on NPR, CNN and other outlets whenever there is a high-profile case."

On her LinkedIn profile, it is mentioned that she did her studies at the University of Michigan. Moreover, in her initial career, she covered 'police and court beats in Cincinnati and Rochester, and then became an economics writer in Washington, D.C.', as per Harper Collins' website.

She currently lives in New York with her husband, Walter Shapiro, who is also a journalist and works as a bureau chief for Salon.com.

---

Gordon said that she was disappointed to see that Cooper's book did not include original discussions with the sources

Meryl Gordon while speaking about Anderson Cooper's book said that she was really disappointed to know that he did not sit and discuss anything with the people, who could have given him quotes.

She said,

"There’s so many people who are still around and would have spoken to him. Philip Marshall, Brooke Astor’s grandson, said he’d never heard from Anderson or anyone involved in that book"

Gordon further concluded by saying that Cooper cited her, there is nothing legally wrong, and there is no plagiarism but she just expected more from him as he lacked research in his upcoming book.