Letitia Baldrige, Jackie Kennedy’s social secretary, dies at 86
Letitia Baldrige, an etiquette arbiter who served as social secretary to First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy and later wrote books and a syndicated column advising readers on good manners in contemporary America, has died. She was 86.
Baldrige died Monday at a nursing facility in Bethesda, Md., said Mary M. Mitchell, a longtime friend and writing collaborator. Baldrige had severe osteoarthritis with cardiac complications, Mitchell said.
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In 1960, Baldrige was called by Jacqueline Kennedy, a friend from their days at a private girls’ school in Connecticut, and asked to help at the White House. In her new role, Baldrige -- who had already served as an advisor and social secretary to the U.S. ambassadors in Paris and Rome -- would oversee the glittering state dinners and gatherings for which the Kennedy White House became known.
A complete obituary will follow at www.latimes.com/obits.
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