Lois Erdmann Wright of East Hampton Remembered as Author, Grey Gardens Visitor, TV Personality

Lois Erdmann Wright, a woman of art, an author, a palmist and an East Hampton television personality, died on October 13. She was 95.

An intimate witness to the eccentricities of aristocracy, Wright was well known due to her close relationships with Edith Ewing Bouvier Beale and her daughter, “Little Edie,” of Grey Gardens fame.

Through her two well received books, My Life at Grey Gardens and The Ghost of Grey Gardens, Wright offered the world a peek into a fascinating enclave of upper-crust decay and undeniable charm to thousands of fans.

In film, Wright was featured in the 1975 documentary Grey Gardens; played a central role in The Beales of Grey Gardens (2006) and Wild Blue Yonder (2007); consulted in depth with Michael Sucsy and Drew Barrymore for the television movie Grey Gardens (2009); and was an “off-stage” character in the 2017 film That Summer.

Wright was born July 9, 1928 in New York City to William and Kathryn Wright, joining brother Bill, 6 years her senior. The niece of the late Dr. John F. Erdmann, she moved to East Hampton when she was 9, spending the rest of her life as a Hamptonite.

As a young child, she was fascinated with palmistry; as an adult, she was often referred to as “the Palmist of the Hamptons.” Starting at the Sea Spray Inn (1940) where she read the palms of Bette Davis, Helen Hayes and Ethel Merman, among others, she later set up a table at the Old Post Office in Southampton, finally landing at the Neptune Lounge at Gurney’s Inn, where, ove the course of many years, she read the palms and tarot cards of hundreds more celebrities: Frank Sinatra, Patty Hearst, Yoko Ono, Billy Joel — the list goes on and on and on.

Wright was also a very accomplished painter. While many of her paintings focused on the Beales, she also liked to paint seascapes off the coast of Montauk. Her work has been shown at the Sag Harbor Gallery, Guild Hall in East Hampton, and the National Arts Club in New York City.

In 1984, she produced and hosted The Lois Wright Show on East Hampton’s LTV cable access. Her show turned out to be the longest running show on LTV, ending in 2018. Wright was also the subject of the 2010 Children’s Book Bijoux Goes to Grey Gardens by J.C. Burdine.

A longtime member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Wright is survived by her two nieces: Siri Michele Zwemke of Virginia and Brooke Hargrove of Florida. Interment will be at the Cedar Lawn Cemetery with her brother, William.

In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations be made in her memory to East Hampton Meals on Wheels, 33 Newtown Lane, Suite 205, East Hampton, NY 11937; ehmealsonwheels.org.