Alva Erskine Belmont was a prominent multi-millionaire American socialite and a major figure in the women’s suffrage movement, who used her power and position to better humanity, while taking on a reputation that would make military men break down and cry, by antagonizing many people with her energy, intelligence, strong opinions, and willingness to challenge convention, she went on to solidify that what is scrutinized is really what should be praised.

Born on January 17, 1853 in Mobile, Alabama, Alva was one of six children. “As a child, Alva summered with her parents in Newport, Rhode Island and accompanied them on European vacations. In 1857 the Smiths left Mobile and relocated to New York City, where they briefly settled in Madison Square. When Murray went to Liverpool, England, to conduct his business, her mother, Phoebe Smith, moved to Paris where Alva attended a private boarding school in Neuilly-sur-Seine. After the Civil War, the Smith family returned to New York, where her mother died in 1869.”

Her first marriage was on April 20, 1875 to William Kissam Vanderbilt and Alva was married at Calvary Church in New York City. Determined to bring the Vanderbilt family the social status; Alva christened the Fifth Avenue chateau with a masquerade ball for 1200 guests.

Masquerade balls were sometimes set as a game among the guests. The masked guests were supposedly dressed to be unidentifiable.

An estimated $11 million was spent on 500,000 cubic feet of white marble, gold ballroom and staff which included 36 butlers, maids, coachmen, and footmen who all wore maroon livery. The original gossip girl set up a devious plan where she got some payback for having been snubbed by Caroline Astor, queen of “The 400″ elite of New York society, so she purposely neglected to send an invitation to Astor’s popular daughter, Carrie. “Supposedly, this forced Astor to come calling, in order to secure an invitation to the ball for her daughter. Astor did in fact pay a social call on Vanderbilt and she and her daughter were guests at the ball, effectively giving the Vanderbilt family society’s official acceptance!”

During the consummation of the matrimony she bore her husband three children, but for many reason speculated they filed for divorced in March 1895. Rumors of the planktonic separation included allegations of William’s adultery, although there were some who believed that William had hired a woman to pretend to be his mistress so that Alva would divorce him.

“First marry for money, then marry for love.”

Now a relevant figure in the public eye, the fashionista flapper had no problem persuading everyone who attended her soirée to follow her lead by perpetuating her strong opinions, and willingness to challenge convention with the Women’s suffrage.

Inspired to do my part to better humanity, even though I don’t have the funds Alva did, I use my social networks to make a positive statement. Having now built a fan base I have the credibility to get my voice heard for those who no one will listen to.

Regardless of the fact, Alva remarried Oliver Hazard Perry Belmont, a man five years her junior and one of her ex-husband’s old friends, on January 11, 1896. “Oliver had been a friend of the Vanderbilts since the late 1880s and like William was a great fan of yachting and horseraces.”

Immaculate to the fact that she is nobody subordinate she spent her life building and designing many mansions she owned.

“Determined to bring the Vanderbilt family the social status that she felt they deserved, Vanderbilt christened the Fifth Avenue chateau with a masquerade ball for 1200 guests, costing a reported $3 million. An oft-repeated story tells that Vanderbilt felt she had been snubbed by Caroline Astor, queen of “The 400″ elite of New York society, so she purposely neglected to send an invitation to Astor’s popular daughter, Carrie. Supposedly, this forced Astor to come calling, in order to secure an invitation to the ball for her daughter.”

Making sure equality was giving to all she frequent on the weekends with African American woman and immigrants at Beacon Towers to progress with her movement of the Woman’s Suffrage.

The world lost a precious jewel when Alva Belmont dies in France, Paris of bronchial and heart ailments on January 26, 1933. “Just pray to God. She will help you.”-Alva Belmont was a Goddess on Earth and is not a God in Heaven!

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The Shack

A fiction novel based on personal experiences with an insight on how to build an intimate relationship with God, “One needs self-love, non-isolation, and a willing to trust the journey and not please.” His 50 year foundation of reaching a center peace with GOD, allows everyone to trust the advantage of being a child of GOD!

Q and A with Christina Jeter

Christina: William’s Personal Journey “We live in a world where ‘normal’ does not truly exist except as an idea or concept.” So are you stating that normal is whatever one is being allowed to tolerate?

Paul: Normal doesn’t exist. We take our experiences from our childhood upbringing considering our family dynamics and culture as normal. Once we begin to interact with other people do we realize that others have a different normal.  Normal is a myth.

Christina: “For each of us, where and how we grew up plays a foundational role in our sense of ‘normal’, and only when we begin to experience the ‘bigness and diversity’ of the world are we tempted to evaluate our roots.” As a child did your intuition ever speak to you about your upbringing not being of comfort to you? Or did it ONLY come into play when you surrounded yourself with others of different upbringings?

Paul: I was sexually abused starting before I was 5 years old, from outside my biological family, and my heart told me that my boundaries have been violated and that I was bad. I blamed myself for the wrongdoing.  I didn’t have an adult mind help me process and understand.

Christina: What where some of the occasionally practicing ritualistic cannibalism you witness as a, “White Dani”?

Paul: I didn’t see anything. I was miles away when it happened.  Some of the adult missionaries witnessed it and we all knew about it.

Christina: What made you want to purse a degree in religion?

Paul: A quest for relationship with God was always a consuming passion of mine. I was raised as a missionary kid and preacher’s kid, so my struggle was actually relationship with God vs Religion.  God was the only one who never left.

Christina: “The Shack was a story written for my six children, with no thought or intention to publish.  It is as much a surprise to me as to anyone else that I am now an ‘author’.” How did the book come to get published?

Paul: God has a sense of humor! I initially printed just 15 copies of the book and went back to work.   My friends who read it kept passing it to others and that started a conversation about actually publishing.  It was rejected by 26 publishers, and ended up being published through a printing company in California and shipped out of a garage.  We spent less than $300 in marketing and advertising over the first 13 months.  Word-of-mouth referrals eventually drove the book to number 1 on the New York Times trade paperback fiction best-seller list in June 2008. “The Shack” was the top-selling fiction and audio book of 2008 in America through November 30.

Christina: What emotions came ahead when you made NY Times best seller list?

Paul: I was asked to speak in Hawaii and got to use the opportunity to take my family for a much needed vacation. While snorkeling I see the kids waving at me from the beach at Hanama Bay and think they are warning me about a shark.  They actually had just found out the book had appeared on the NY Times Bestseller list at #1, where it stayed for 49 weeks in a row.  The book did everything I wanted it to do in the first 15 copies, so this was all unexpected and thrilling.

Christina: “I work as a general manager, janitor and inside sales guy for a friend who owns a small manufacturers rep company in Milwaukie, Oregon, and I live in a small rented house in Gresham, Oregon, that Kim has made into a marvelous home.” If offered another job in the same state with more income would you take it? Why or why not?

Paul: No.  At this point, it wouldn’t happen.  Kim and I are very grounded with family, our children, and grandchildren and friendships.

Christina: “Facts alone might help you understand where a person has been, but often hide who they actually are.” Why do you feel this way?

Paul: Because fact are associated with history. Facts are just the skin, the surface.  Knowing is much more than that, how something feels, creates, dances, emotes, get’s angry, loves, serves, shows compassion etc.

Christina: “The Shack will tell you much more about me than a few facts ever could.” Seeing how originally it was just for your children’s eyes, could the interpretation of the book be viewed as a dairy/journal/personal memoir of the upbringing you had and the choices made from it?

Paul: Yes, the incidents in the book are a metaphor for situations in my personal life.

Christina: When will your blog open? What are some of the context we will see displayed?

Paul: Hopefully, later this year.   Windrumors.com displays a calendar of upcoming events.

There is a conversation about a potential movie for the novel The Shack but Paul is not involved in that piece.

Phone interview conducted by Christina Angela Jeter

Images provided by Emily Kinkade of Ambassador Speakers

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