--- title: Truman Capote’s Ashes Sold at Auction for $43,750 description: The ashes of celebrated author Truman Capote was sold at auction for $43,750 in Los Angeles to an anonymous buyer this weekend. canonical: https://time.com/4507458/truman-capotes-ashes-auction/ author: Tara John article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-09-26T12:55:31.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T00:49:13.647Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: Truman Capote’s Ashes Sold at Auction for $43,750 og:description: The ashes of celebrated author Truman Capote was sold at auction for $43,750 in Los Angeles to an anonymous buyer this weekend. og:url: https://time.com/4507458/truman-capotes-ashes-auction/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt071119f43291b36a/6988a76dcd1bba3faa702757/truman-capote.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Truman Capote og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Truman Capote’s Ashes Sold at Auction for $43,750 twitter:description: The ashes of celebrated author Truman Capote was sold at auction for $43,750 in Los Angeles to an anonymous buyer this weekend. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt071119f43291b36a/6988a76dcd1bba3faa702757/truman-capote.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Truman Capote’s Ashes Sold at Auction for $43,750 by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Sep 26, 2016 12:55 PM CUT  American writer Truman Capote (1924 - 1984), the author of 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' in Milan negotiating a contract for his new nonfiction novel 'In Cold Blood'. American writer Truman Capote (1924 - 1984), the author of 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' in Milan negotiating a contract for his new nonfiction novel 'In Cold Blood'.Keystone—Getty Images by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Sep 26, 2016 12:55 PM CUT The ashes of the author [Truman Capote](http://time.com/4230925/harper-lee-truman-capote-friendship/ "undefined"), who wrote _In Cold Blood_ and _Breakfast at Tiffany’s_, was sold at auction for $43,750 in Los Angeles to an anonymous buyer this weekend. The ashes, which are housed in a sealed wooden Japanese box, originally belonged to the late Joanne Carson, ex-wife of former _Tonight Show_ host Johnny Carson. She was a close friend of Capote, who died at her Bel-Air mansion in 1984. “We had people from Russia, Germany, China, South America and here in the U.S. who had interest in them,” President and Chief Executive of auction house Julian’s Auctions, Darren Julien,[ told CNN of the Sept. 24 auction](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/24/us/truman-capote-ashes/ "undefined"). “I anticipated it could sell for over $10,000, but didn’t anticipate it going to $45,000.” > [](https://twitter.com/JuliensAuctions/status/779748291483308032) As well as his ashes, other personal items of Capote— like his trousers, ice skates and a shirt he wore on the day of his death— were for sale over the weekend. “He asked Joanne Carson before he passed. He told her he didn’t want to sit on a shelf,” Julien told CNN. “This is definitely right in line with his wishes.” \[[CNN](http://edition.cnn.com/2016/09/24/us/truman-capote-ashes/ "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4507458/truman-capotes-ashes-auction/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4507458/truman-capotes-ashes-auction/"},"headline":"Truman Capote’s Ashes Sold at Auction for $43,750","datePublished":"2016-09-26T12:55:31.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T00:49:13.647Z","description":"The ashes belonged to Capote's close friend Joanne Carson","url":"https://time.com/4507458/truman-capotes-ashes-auction/","keywords":["celebrities"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt071119f43291b36a/6988a76dcd1bba3faa702757/truman-capote.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt071119f43291b36a/6988a76dcd1bba3faa702757/truman-capote.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Truman Capote","caption":"American writer Truman Capote (1924 - 1984), the author of 'Breakfast At Tiffany's' in Milan negotiating a contract for his new nonfiction novel 'In Cold Blood'.","creditText":"Keystone—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/celebrities/","name":"celebrities"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4507458/truman-capotes-ashes-auction/","name":"Truman Capote’s Ashes Sold at Auction for $43,750"}}]}] ```