Anderson Cooper in his new book (co-written with historian and novelist Katherine Howe), Vanderbilt: The Rise and Fall of an American Dynasty (available Sept. 21) goes into the past to tell the incredible story of his ancestors and their rise and fall from riches to all that they lost later and showcases his unique bond with her late heiress turned fashion designer mother, Gloria Vanderbilt.

Gloria Vanderbilt, daughter of Gloria Morgan, was born in New York City on February 20, 1924 to one of the wealthiest families in America, popularly known to be from the family who built the New York Central Railroad.

“My mom was extraordinarily unique, and I miss that uniqueness in my life, It was sometimes very frustrating and stressful, because she never had a plan for things, She was incredibly creative, so things were always changing. I was always having to adapt to her new ideas and encourage some of those, and try to discourage her from things that didn’t make any sense.” Cooper said

She was dubbed the “poor little rich girl” by press when her socialite mother and her aunt Gertrude became locked in a courtroom fight. Vanderbilt married her first husband in Los Angeles when she was a teenager. She also had love affairs with Frank Sinatra and Howard Hughes. She would marry three more times, her final time to Cooper’s father, author and screenwriter Wyatt Emory Cooper. He later died while undergoing open-heart surgery in 1978.

Vanderbilt was a single mother since then and she found success as an actress and artist designing home furnishings, sheets. She earned millions with her Gloria Vanderbilt designer jeans but eventually lost it all due to a fraudulent lawyer.

Anderson Cooper’s mother Gloria Vanderbilt died just over two years ago in 2019, from stomach cancer. She was 95.