By PJ Bremier
IJ correspondent

THE LATE EDITH Bouvier Beale, or “Little Edie” as the world would come to know her, was a popular New York socialite and daring style icon of the 1920s and ’30s, not to mention one of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis’ most famous cousins.

Eva Marie Beale, though, knew her as the family showstopper. The Mill Valley resident first met “Little Edie,” the subject of two hit films and an inspiration to fashion designers and a legion of fans, at her wedding rehearsal dinner to Little Edie’s nephew, Bouvier Beale, in 1980.

“She was beyond all my expectations,” Beale recalls. “She was the life of the party. She spoke to all of the guests and was really extroverted. She loved stealing the show and was very good at it.”

Since then, Beale has published several books on her charming in-law: “Edith Bouvier Beale of Grey Gardens, A Life in Pictures” (2008) and “I Only Mark the Hours That Shine: Little Edie’s Diary — 1929″ (2010). A new book of “Little Edie’s” poetry is due to be published this year.

Read the rest of the story here.

Eva Marie Beale of Mill Valley founded the Grey Gardens Collection, an online store selling wares such as these ironstone pieces that capture the aesthetics of her relative, the late socialite Edith 'Little Edie' Bouvier Beale.

Photo: E. Beale, Grey Gardens Collections

Eva Marie Beale of Mill Valley founded the Grey Gardens Collection, an online store selling wares such as this fabric that capture the aesthetics of her relative, the late socialite Edith ' Little Edie' Bouvier Beale. 

Photo: E. Beale, Grey Gardens Collections

Eva Marie Beale of Mill Valley founded the Grey Gardens Collection, an online store selling wares such as this brooch that capture the aesthetics of her relative, the late socialite Edith ' Little Edie' Bouvier Beale. 

Photo: E. Beale, Grey Gardens Collections