"Harlequin".
"Strumpet". "Homewrecker".
These were some of the words people used to describe Roxanne
Pulitzer at the time of her 1983 Palm Beach divorce trial.
Others, more sympathetic or just enchanted by the smiling young woman who had
burst her way onto the nightly news, simply referred to her as "Foxy
Roxy".
Roxanne Pulitzer was
not born to greatness. Born in Cassadga, New York, Roxanne lived the smallest
of small town existences. Her father, an alcoholic, was kicked out of the
family home when Roxanne was just a young child. Roxanne's mother supported
her three children as best she could, until she eventually remarried.
In her late teens,
Roxanne entered the first of her marriages. Though in love with a handsome
young musician named John, she was
quick to see it was a love that couldn't last. He left for Europe to tour with
the rock group Santana, and Roxanne
coped the best she could, seeking comfort in the sympathies of Peter
Dixon, a fellow college student and son of prominent, though
small town, society figures. Still saddened by her aborted affair with John,
Roxanne accepted his offer of marriage.
A relative naif to
sex, Roxanne was quickly exposed to the harsh realities of married life. The
morning after her wedding night, she called her mother for advice, so
concerned was she about her new found marital duties. Her mother's sage
advice: daiquiris. Unfortunately, this would begin a pattern in young
Roxanne's life that would eventually prove her undoing.
The daiquiris helped,
and married life continued on a comfortable, if somewhat dull course. Peter's
mother, though disapproving of Roxanne as socially inferior, grudgingly began
to groom her daughter-in-law, and Roxanne was at last exposed to a glimpse of
the greater glory to come.
The young newlyweds
eventually decided to relocate to Florida, and lived in the elder Dixon's
luxurious winter home. Roxanne had never before been exposed to such gracious
living, but grew immediately accustomed. Unfortunately, this happy situation
couldn't be allowed to last long, and Roxanne soon discovered that her husband
was a compulsive liar, and unfaithful in the bargain. Casting aside her
upwardly mobile ambitions, Roxanne maintained her pride instead, and walked
out of the marriage.
Without Peter in her
life, his parents quite naturally terminated her financial support. The small
amount of money that Peter could provide did not go far in Southern Florida,
and Roxanne was forced to seek employment. At this juncture, good fortune
smiled upon Roxanne, and she found work selling insurance.
Though nobody can
pretend that insurance is fascinating work, it at least paid her bills, and
also provided Roxanne with the introduction to her second husband, Herbert
Pulitzer. On a routine sales call, the two met, and sparks
immediately flew. It wasn't long before the two began to see one another
frequently, and they became an item in the social world. Herbert was
immediately smitten when Roxanne, in a burst of spontaneous frivolity,
suddenly confessed at a party that she liked oral sex the most.
Herbert Pulitzer was
that rare creature in the social world - a self-made man from an old-money
family. Groomed for a Harvard education, Herbert instead blazed his own trail,
and chose for Stamford instead, before quitting school to begin his own
business. Not even 20, he had been surprised to learn just how far the family
fortunes had been allowed to fall, and was determined to do something about
it. It wasn't long before he had built an empire consisting of wineries,
hotels, restaurants and real estate. One of his most famous hotels was the Hotel
Pulitzer in Amsterdam, the first newly built hotel in that city
for 200 hundred years.
Herbert had come to
enjoy a very comfortable life by the time he had met Roxanne. Other than his
Palm Beach estate, he had a jet, yachts, and several beautiful autos. He had
acquired much in his life, and all through very hard work. A driven man,
Herbert found it difficult to devote as much time to family life as business.
Indeed, it was this very problem that had destroyed his first marriage to Lily,
one of the reigning forces in Palm Beach society. Though Roxanne knew such
opportunities come but once in a lifetime, she realized, too, that she would
have to work hard to make this relationship work.
Though almost derailed
by Herbert's ambivalence, the couple eventually married. They enjoyed their
wedding night in the penthouse suite of the Howard Johnson Motel in Miami, as
it was owned by Herbert, before embarking on a luxurious Caribbean honeymoon.
If she hadn't enjoyed
sex with Peter, her view of relations with Herbert could best be termed
confusing and intense. In their intimate moments, Herbert displayed a passion
and fire she had never seen before. Roxanne felt possessed, dominated. In
these moments, she saw in his eyes the same cruelty that he showed when
stalking and killing small animals on their weekend ranch - one of his
favorite ways of relaxing. Then, his passion spent, he would revert to the
same cold, distant Herbert he'd been before.
Marriage to Herbert
had also brought another facet of his character to light: his need to control
everything around him, even his family. She was shocked at his domination and
verbal abuse of his son, and equally distressed with his control of her life.
With marriage, she had surrendered her autonomy.
She was placed on an
allowance that didn't stretch far enough to meet the demands of a Palm Beach
hostess, and was forced to ask for it each time. She felt like a young child
again, having to follow someone else's rules or face the consequences. There
were compensations, however, and Roxanne was given tennis and French lessons,
and further polished to meet the critical standards of Palm Beach. She had
much to learn, and one faux pas followed the other before she learned the
ropes. She was fortunate at this time to meet Jacquie
Kimberly, wife of Kleenex heir Jim Kimberly. Jim's family had
made fortunes with Kimberly-Clark paper goods, and knew how to enjoy that
fortune. Almost 40 years older than Jacquie, Jim was only able with difficulty
to keep up, so in Roxanne she found not only a happy project, but
companionship her own age.
Jacquie took Roxanne
under her wing, and Foxy Roxy emerged. Jacquie was a former receptionist who
had managed to snag one of the biggest fish of all, and didn't take society
very seriously, but enjoyed it as a game and knew how to play it well. She
showed Roxanne how to dress, which caterers to use, seating placement - all of
the things essential to social greatness. Under Jacquie's tutelage, Roxanne at
last achieved the social credibility she needed, and became a force to be
reckoned with in Palm Beach.
The two couples
traveled frequently to Europe together, the Kimberly's always taking an ample
supply of Kleenex products for all. Jim couldn't abide using a competitor's
tissue for something so intimate. With Jacquie, Roxanne also began flying to
New York to have her hair cut and nails manicured, and they were frequently
seen together at Studio 54. Just as she had taught Roxanne the ways of Florida
Society, Jacquie began now to guide Roxanne through the more decadent side of
upper class society - though this time with disastrous results.
Roxanne was no
stranger to high society indiscretions. Not long after her marriage to
Herbert, they had attended a birthday party where the liveried waiters passed
trays of cocaine on silver platters. Though a neophyte to this drug, she
quickly learned that it was de rigueur at all Palm Beach Society gatherings.
Indeed, without this, no one would have stayed awake past midnight. However,
with both Jacquie's and Herbert's encouragement, she began to use it more
frequently. Partly, this was due to the addictive nature of the drug, but also
because it was such a status symbol in their social setting. Roxanne was
thrilled to see how fast her weight dropped, something that had concerned her
since the birth of the twins a year or so before. It also helped to distract
her from Herbert's growing detachment since the birth.
Though it remained
unspoken, things weren't going well in the Pulitzer marriage. Herbert was not
happy to be a father again, and share his wife's attentions with two crying
babies. He became even more demanding. Doubtlessly the cocaine didn't help his
mood. After a trip to Amsterdam, he began to fantasize openly about a ménage
à trois. Though caught off guard by her husband's new ideas, she tried her
best to be a supportive wife. On a trip to Paris, Herbert called a masseuse to
their suite at the Ritz Hotel, and his fantasy at last was realized. Roxanne had
crossed another threshold in an effort to save her marriage.
The parties and high
life continued, with dancing until dawn, fishbowls of cocaine, and orgies in
New York penthouses. The Reagans were in the White House, the rich were
getting richer, and the Pulitzers would allow themselves to feel no pain.
However, with the drugs and alcohol flowing so freely, it was inevitable that
the marriage would degenerate.
Herbert wanted to
continue his sexual experiments. He was constantly discussing his fantasies
with Roxanne, and pressing her to find them a new companion. Not knowing where
else to turn, she confided in Jacquie, who was appropriately sympathetic and
agreed to a tryst at the Holiday Inn in Miami. Herbert watched as an anxious
Roxanne and Jacquie made love, their nerves settled somewhat by the cocaine
they had ingested.
This strained state of
affairs eventually began to take its toll. Roxanne's weight plummeted to 109
lbs, and she and Herbert fought constantly. The drugs had begun to erode both
of their personalities, and they each became suspicious. Roxanne began to
notice an unnatural closeness between Herbert and his eldest daughter, Liza.
She would frequently spot Liza on Herbert's lap, sipping a drink and looking
at him provocatively. At other times she would find them lying on the bed
together, comfortable as man and wife.
Herbert, on the other
hand, began to burst into jealous rages, accusing his wife of affairs with,
among others, a race car driver, a French baker, a drug dealer, and a
handyman. Nothing could persuade him that this was fantasy, and he eventually
presented his wife with a financial agreement, limiting her share of the
marital assets, though giving her custody of the twins. When Roxanne refused
to sign, he demanded a divorce, and began accusing her of being a cocaine
addict. He manipulated her into drug counseling, where she was forced to
confess for the record her drug history. At this point, she decided she would
be better served with legal counsel of her own.
After endless
negotiations, tempers cooled a bit, and the Pulitzers tried again. They both
swore off drugs, and flew away for a second honeymoon in Paris. Herbert, still
moody, spoiled the trip and they flew back early to the States. Upon their
return, Herbert drew a gun, and threatened to kill Roxanne and himself if she
didn't enter drug treatment. Wanting desperately to save her marriage, she
complied.
With an admission to a
drug rehab clinic now on her record, Roxanne knew she had to be careful. She
did her best at the clinic, and upon her release, Herbert had her breasts
enlarged as a reward - though it must be said they were more of a present for
him than for her. Unfortunately, even enlarged breasts weren't enough to
satisfy Herbert, and divorce once again loomed in the air.
A desperate Roxanne
did everything in her power to rekindle the old magic between them, including
buying expensive love potions to slip into his drink. Alas, this proved
ineffective, and divorce papers were received in short order. The Pulitzers
had grown apart.
When Roxanne read the
charges, her eyes grew wide as saucers. She stood charged with being a drug
addict and alcoholic who couldn't cook, clean, sew, or perform routine
childcare; and who flew into fits of rage. Though none of it was true, of
course, she knew that Herbert Pulitzer was a powerful force in Palm Beach, and
she could expect the worst. Indeed, rumors began to circulate that she had
been seen lying in her driveway, screaming desperately for a fix of cocaine.
She was almost immediately exiled from society, being always suspect in the
first place. After all, The Pulitzers had lived in Palm Beach for decades;
who'd ever heard of Roxanne?
The media at once
pounced on the case, and reporters flocked to the courtroom to hear the
charges read. A list of lovers was produced, and the adultery charges were
made public. Roxanne was accused in the press of performing an unnatural act
with a trumpet during a ritual of witchcraft, and was promptly labeled, "The
Strumpet With The Trumpet". Poor Roxanne almost had an
auto accident when she saw a Worth Avenue window display, cruelly mocking her
predicament: it featured a mannequin lying on a bed and wearing only a mink
coat; holding a trumpet and a bottle of champagne. Palm Beach can be vicious
to the wounded.
At the
height of the scandal, with Jacquie Kimberly being questioned on national
television about lesbian sex acts that had occurred, there were over 300
reporters covering the trial. Interest was great as far away as Paris and
London. Thousands of people stood in line for hours in order to receive passes
to the court. Foxy
Roxy's face stood out on newspaper front pages around the world.
Herbert did everything
he could to sabotage Roxanne's case and paint her in as bad a light as
possible, in order to rob her of custody of her children. By this time, his
mind had become poisoned to her, and all he wanted was to see her destroyed in
court.
As was inevitable, the
powerful Pulitzers were able to convince the judge of the fairness of the
charges. Roxanne, despite having many credible witnesses of her own, was
waylaid by a judge that had decided in Herbert's favor well before the trial
had ended. Though nobody was surprised, the harshness of his decision shocked
the nation.
The judge ruled that
"the wife entered the marriage with limited financial resources, a used
automobile of unknown value, and a $7,000 interest in a mobile home. Upon
departing the marriage, which she destroyed, she may take a $20,000 Porsche,
purchased with the husband's funds; $48,000 in alimony; $7,000 in cash equity
in husband's boat; and $102,000 in attorney's fees". Herbert got sole
custody of the children, the judge branding her an unfit mother.
A now desperate and
badly underfunded Roxy was forced to reassess her options. Her life in
disarray, she grasped at any straws she could find. The first that blew her
way was an offer to pose nude for Playboy
magazine, for the then enormous sum of $70,000. Roxy needed the money, but was
determined that she would not be manipulated anymore. She had artistic
control, and right of approval. It was a humorous layout, designed to
highlight both Roxy's enlarged breasts, as well as the more ludicrous charges
made against her. In one pose, she lay on a bed, surrounded by an entire brass
section, Kleenex tissues littering the room. She even made the cover, in a
sequined blue bikini, holding a trumpet. Though Herbert was furious, and used
this as an excuse to further reduce her custody privileges, she had at last
begun to regain her lost autonomy and self-respect.
Time heals all wounds,
and Roxanne has found happiness at last. Working after the divorce as an
aerobics instructor, she eventually found the strength necessary to confront
her demons and write a sensational tell-all autobiography. The great success
of that venture led her to her current career as novelist and chronicler of
Palm Beach society. She has found personal happiness again, and is married for
a third, and hopefully final time. She was asked once if she would do it all
again, knowing how it would turn out. Thinking for a moment, she replied,
"yes, I would. Because even though Herbert got it all, and I was libeled
in the press, I still see my children, and they are the greatest reward anyone
could ever hope to have". More than any name or Blue Book registration,
that reply speaks volumes about who had the class in the Pulitzer marriage.
(Written by Jeff
Woloson)
Let us know what you think!
