Nancy Merryman

Nancy Merryman, or "Nana" as we call her, was raised in Lexington Kentucky, where she became an accomplished horsewoman; she was the only woman on the Lexington Polo team.  She married Don Edwards, an FBI agent, and they had three children, Len, Sam, and Bruce.  When he divorced her she married John Merryman, a law teacher at Santa Clara University, who was promptly fired because he married a divorced woman (!).   Don became a United States Congressman, John a Law Professor at Stanford University.  With John Nana became a renowned dealer in contemporary art, travelling to art shows in the U.S. and Europe, and hobnobbing with the artists.  She lived to be 97 years old.  

The Early years 

The years with Don Edwards 

The years with John Merryman

To hear Nana speak of her life in her own words, click here.

For a conversation of John and Nana speaking how they met, click here.

The best description of Nana's life is the oral biography of her life created by Leah Friedman in 1960.  (Nora is the wife of Professor Lawrence Friedman, a colleague of John's at the Stanford Law School).  It is a lengthy document: 200 pages!  Below are links permitting you to easily access every 10th page:

1  10   20   30   40   50   60   70   80   90   100   110   120   130   140   150   160   170   180   190   200

And a warning: The document presented here is from an early draft; be prepared for occasional corrections and overwrites.  

Photos