1960. Perle was in fact a friend of Rose Kennedy, but a generation gap between her and Jacqueline Kennedy had made it impossible for her to stay relevant during the Kennedy era. Nevertheless, she remained an avid hostess until her later years. She was apparently the inspiration for the Black Russian cocktail when the bartender at the Hotel Metropole in Brussels decided to make a signature drink for her. Mesta wrote the autobiography Perle: My Story, published in 1960, and was the subject of a book by titled Playing Her Part: Perle Mesta in Luxembourg. Lesch also directed a documentary film about Mesta's stay in Luxembourg titled Call Her Madam (Samsa Film, 1997). In 1951, she was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Mesta died on March 16, 1975, aged 85 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She is interred with her late husband in the nonsectarian Homewood Cemetery in Pittsburgh. Mesta is the namesake of the Mesta Park neighborhood in Oklahoma City. References Other reference Various clippings and articles located in the Pennsylvania section of the Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA. External links Pittsburgh Post-Gazette retrospective on Mesta Machinery Corporation Ambassadors of the United States to Luxembourg American women ambassadors American socialites American political hostesses American salon-holders 1889 births 1975 deaths People from Sturgis, Michigan People from Oklahoma City People from Pittsburgh People from Washington, D.C. Pennsylvania Republicans Rhode Island Republicans Michigan Republicans Oklahoma Republicans Washington, D.C., Republicans Pennsylvania Democrats Rhode Island Democrats Michigan Democrats Oklahoma Democrats Burials at Homewood Cemetery 20th-century American diplomats 20th-century American women