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Truman Capote’s ashes sold for $45,000 at Los Angeles auction
Truman Capote’s ashes have been sold for $45,000 (£35,000) at an auction in Los Angeles.
Capote, author of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” and “In Cold Blood” was one of America’s most famous 20th century writers; he died in 1984.
A portion of his ashes were owned by Joanne Carson, the former wife of the chat show host Johnny Carson. When she inherited them, they were valued at $6,000.
She died last year.
The ashes were sealed in a Japanese carved wooden box and have been sold in their original cemetery packaging.
"We had people from Russia, Germany, China, South America and here in the US who had interest in them," the auctioneers’ president and chief Executive Darren Julien told CNN.
"I anticipated it could sell for over $10,000, but didn't anticipate it going to $45,000.”
However the purchaser of the ashes is a collector who wishes to remain anonymous.
The ashes were among a number of items sold at the auction which formed part of Mrs Carson’s estate. A set of his prescription bottles fetched $5,000.
Clothes, ice skates and even the shirt he wore on the day of his death were also in the sale.