LC: I think so. Oprah is much noisier than Emily, by which I mean it is a noisier medium she works in. But, yes, both women are keenly against the idea of class in a conventional sense. Emily’s theme always was — like Oprah’s today — it wasn’t about money, it wasn’t about class, it wasn’t about etiquette rules, but it is about being aware of the people around you. They are both libertarian in their attitudes, their message being that if you ascribe to certain basic principles in life, "The Golden Rule," you can do really well no matter what your background is.

ETC: Interesting how the culture matured. Emily Post’s era was about literally opening doors to new people and inventions. Oprah’s message is more “New Age-y,” opening doors inside us in order to grow individually and as a culture. But since Emily Post never said things like, "You must keep your elbows off the table," how come we think of her as this prim uptight being?

LC: It really comes down to ageism. Despite her vast popularity with immigrants, with soldiers during WWII, with war brides and women entering the workplace, the male columnists and reporters put her down, considered her old at 50 when her book was first published, and this idea of the little old lady stuck, I’m sorry to say.

ETC: How did you get the idea to write a biography of Emily Post?

LC: Growing up in a lower-income family, we didn’t have many books at home but we did have a copy of Emily Post. And on rainy days I would read it. It really gave me the sense that I could grow up and be whatever and whomever I wanted. About ten years ago, I was telling this to my husband and he asked if I had ever read a really good biography of Emily Post. I said that I hadn’t and, upon looking for one, discovered a biography had never been written. I started out from a distance but by the end of the writing I really felt that, well, she had spoken to me and really helped me.

ETC: And during the writing, in 2003, you were diagnosed with a particularly aggressive form of brain cancer. An intense six months followed which you describe beautifully and inspiringly in your acknowledgments in the book. How are you today?

LC: I am doing wonderful. No one wants to go through anything like that, and I still think of it with some awe and fear, but not a day goes by that I don’t bless the day and the fact that I am here.