Party of Three (ePub)

On the cusp of the Roaring Twenties, a high-spirited California heiress ran off from Stanford University with a

World War I hero from Joplin, Missouri. Their elopement made headlines, but the bigger story came later, after they abandoned Beverly Hills for a run-down guest ranch near the dusty young village of Palm Springs, California.

They sought a more meaningful life, and found it in the desert.

Party of Three tells how Melba and Frank Bennett transformed Deep Well Guest Ranch into a family-style retreat for America's wealthiest families and Hollywood's most beloved stars.

From the Desert Circus and Village Vanities of the early years to the USO during World War II and the glamorous charity balls of the 1960s, the Bennetts became ringleaders of Palm Springs' marquee events. Their legacy lives on in the city's most important institutions. T

This is more than a history; it's also a love story with three main characters. There's Frank - outdoorsman, slapstick actor, and consummate host, and Melba-a creative dynamo and eternal organizer who made her

mark in the literary world as the confidant and biographer of the great Carmel poet Robinson Jeffers.

And then there's Palm Springs- mountain and desert, glitter and sand, laughter and solitude. Canvas and muse.

The three grew together over four decades. No account of one could be complete

without the others.

This is their story.