Maria Shriver returns to journalism post-Arnold

Wallis Annenberg is an Los Angeles institution and continues the unprecedented philanthropy of her late father Walter Annenberg, whose wealth was generated first in the publishing world and then real estate.

He served as Richard Nixon's Ambassador to Great Britain and became a resident of the Southern California desert town of Rancho Mirage. He befriended Ronald Reagan and socialized with the Rat Pack crowd who gathered at Frank Sinatra's home in the desert.

Water Annenberg became a benefactor of the arts in Los Angeles as well as the fine educational institutions in and around the city. His patronage created the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Southern California (USC) and his daughter has followed in his footsteps.

Wallis Annenberg chose to dedicate her philanthropic activities to further the arts and culture of Los Angeles. As a daughter of a prominent American businessman and political figure, she has much in common with Maria Shriver.

Both mothers of four children, raised in privilege and always in the spotlight, Annenberg and Shriver used the enormous resources at their disposal to help others. They also experienced the pain of a failed marriage while in the public eye. Determining what was next is a subject they both had to discover on their own.

During their interview, Annenberg, who is in her seventies spoke of the changes she has witnessed once the women's movement made it more acceptable for her gender to have work of their own. After her divorce in 1975, Wallis Annenberg feared being left out of the social world she traveled in because a single woman without an escort was not truly welcome at dinner parties.

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