HOUSTON – Houston columnist Maxine Mesinger spent a lifetime dining with and writing about Hollywood's most famous, including Frank Sinatra and Liza Minelli, and now her celebrity collections are on the auction block.
"Frank Sinatra, yeah, they were very close friends. We have a lot of personal letters and notes and little gifts and things spanning 40 years or more," said auction coordinator Chris Medsger.
The memorabilia starts from her early days and includes pictures from movie and television stars and royalty including Queen Elizabeth.
There is a collection too from Houston's own Tommy Tune.
"A size 13 tap shoe with his autograph and note he signed to Auntie Max," said Medsger who put the celebrity collections together for auction.
There are paintings, silver, crystal, first edition signed books and pieces of Houston's history including a brick from the Shamrock Hilton.
There is also her desk from the Houston Chronicle and the typewriter she used to write many of her columns.
Mesinger died from complications from Multiple Sclerosis in 2001 and her husband Emil Mesinger died this past summer, so her children are auctioning off some of her collections with a portion to benefit the Maxine Mesinger Multiple Sclerosis Clinic at Baylor College of Medicine.
"They liked beautiful things and their apartment was full of them," added Medsger.
An auction of the collection will be on October 26, 2013 at Morton Auctioneers and Appraisers.