The latest scandalous revelation in Ryan Murphy’s docudrama “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans” was more surprising than any gossip-laden tales written by Truman Capote (played by Tom Hollander). The latest development came 32 years after his death when Joan Carson (played in the drama by Molly Ringwald), decided to auction off the writer’s remains to the highest bidder.
Ultimately, the final moments of Capote’s life show him floating in and out of consciousness. Expelled from New York, after writing several stories that exposed his socialite friends’ dark secrets, and exiled to Los Angeles, Capote seeks refuge in the Carson House. It is in that room that Capote takes his last breath, asking about his mother and his “beautiful temptress,” also known as Barbara Paley (played by Naomi Watts).
Tom Hollander as Truman Capote, and Molly Ringwald as Joan Carson.
The series then jumps to 2016, with Carson also passed by and her own estate auction in progress. The auctioneer informs the public of the presence of a “very unusual item”, a wooden box containing Capote’s ashes. Horrified, the ghosts of his swans (dressed all in white) watch the scene as the remains are sold for nearly $44,000. After calling the world “merciless”, the terrifying spirits finally decided to leave to have lunch at the big polo hall in the sky. End scene.
Although this all sounds wild, one of the plot points in this conclusion is quite accurate: Truman Capote’s ashes were sold at auction after Carson’s death, according to Julian’s Auctions CEO and co-founder Martin Nolan.
“I met Joan Carson at her home when she was alive,” Nolan said. diverse. “A lovely lady and an interesting lady. When she passed away, she chose Julian’s to manage her estate auction, which included her share of Truman Capote’s ashes in a hand-carved Japanese wooden container in 2016.”
The ashes were a constant source of comfort to Carson, who brought them with her wherever she went. “She was traveling with them because she felt that (Capote) was her friend and she was continuing to take care of him and befriend him and be friends with him.”
According to Nolan, Carson left many of Capote’s belongings inside the room in which he died, including his chair and typewriter. “I kept everything the way it was when he lived there.”
Unfortunately for Carson, the box containing Capote’s remains was stolen from her home on two separate occasions. “She used to be outside in her yard in the courtyard garden area,” Nolan said. “At one party, it was stolen, but I think people took it as a bit of a gag. It was painful for her, but she got it back.”
However, Nolan sees Carson’s plans for her part of Capote’s remains as nothing more than a sign of a good friend. “She remained a loyal friend even after her death,” Nolan said. “I have made sure that his ashes will go to a new home. They will not be dispersed or disposed of with other items that will only be disposed of.
However, there was certainly discussion at Julian’s about the moral dilemma of auctioning off Capote’s remains. “We had to make an ethical decision: Do we really want to sell someone’s ashes?” At the same time we thought: “Hey, you know what?” Truman Capote would certainly have loved this if he had been here. “He would write about it.”
Ultimately, the auctioneers decided not to advertise this as a highlight item set and instead included it in the overall Carson collection for sale. But naturally this article received a huge amount of press.
Selling a box containing human ashes is not entirely out of the ordinary for Julien’s Auctions. “We sold unusual things,” Nolan said. “Like William Shatner’s kidney stones, because at Julian we leave no stone unturned.”