The Legacies We Leave

Tonight on the Front Porch we're going to ask the question: Just how much can we control how we'll be remembered after we die? We'll look at the life of art collector Isabella Stuart Gardner, who tried very hard to control her legacy. She burned many of her letters before she died, and she made sure that the museum she left behind could never be changed or rearranged. We'll also hear the story of a writer who thought his father left him no legacy – until he realized it was right in front of his eyes the whole time.

Isabella Stewart Gardner was well known at the turn of the 20th century as a wealthy, cultured, and flamboyant Boston art collector. She constructed an Italian villa known as The Gardner Museum that contains works by some of the greatest painters in the world. The theft of 300 million dollars worth of art work, including Rembrandts and a Vermeer in 1990 remains the biggest and unsolved art theft in history.

Author Patricia Vigderman made dozens of trips to the Gardner Museum; her goal was to understand exactly what kind of person Isabella Stewart Gardner was. The museum gives few clues. We're going to talk with Patricia Vigderman about her new book, The Memory Palace of Isabella Stewart Gardner.

We'll also hear from writer Joseph Dougherty about his father's legacy. The story comes from The Public Radio Exchange.