Clarissa Watson

Clarissa Watson (April 8, 1918 – March 17, 2012) was an American author, art connoisseur and socialite as well as the writer of the popular Persis Willum mystery series. Known as the “doyenne of art” on Long Island, she was a co-founder of The Country Art Gallery in Nassau County, New York, and was a prominent figure in upper class New York and Long Island society for most of the twentieth century.

Life Born on April 8, 1918, Watson grew up in the wealthy Long Island village of Upper Brookville, and later became a resident of both Glen Cove, Long Island and Sassetot le Mauconduit in Normandy, France. A member of elite New York society, Watson was acquainted with numerous famous and influential people, including former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, author Anita Loos, former Vogue editor-in-chief Diana Vreeland, and former CBS executive Bill Paley.

Watson raised two children with her husband, Edward Louis Watson.

Career

Art curation In 1953, Watson co-founded The Country Art Gallery and Art School with Joan Payson, then-owner of the New York Mets.

The Fourth Stage of Gainsborough Brown (1977) The Bishop in the Back Seat (1980) Runaway (1985) Last Plane from Nice (1988) Somebody Killed the Messenger (1989)

Death Watson died on March 17, 2012, in Saint-Cloud, France, at the age of 93.