Advertisement

Gloria Jones, 78; Widow of Noted Author James Jones

Share
From Times Staff and Wire Reports

Gloria Jones, 78, the widow of author James Jones and a hostess for the literary elite in Paris and the Hamptons, died June 10 of a heart attack at her home in Sagaponack on Long Island, N.Y.

Jones was memorialized by her daughter, Kaylie, in the novel and 1998 movie “A Soldier’s Daughter Never Cries.”

Born Gloria Mosolino in Pottsville, Pa., she graduated from Syracuse University.

She worked as a double for Marilyn Monroe in “The Seven Year Itch” and for Eva Marie Saint in “On the Waterfront.”

Advertisement

In 1957, she was introduced to Jones by the writer Budd Schulberg.

Two weeks later, the couple married in Haiti.

From 1959 to 1974, they lived in Paris, where they were known as celebrated hosts to writers who included Mary McCarthy, James Baldwin and William Styron.

After returning to the United States, they bought a home in Sagaponack, which became a mecca for literary figures, including Arthur Miller, Norman Mailer and Kurt Vonnegut.

She became her husband’s literary executor after his death in 1977.

Advertisement