Truman Capote House shortly afterwards. For Capote, "Breakfast at Tiffany's" was a turning point, as he explained to Roy Newquist ("Counterpoint", 1964): The "new book", "In Cold Blood: A True Account of a Multiple Murder and Its Consequences" (1965), was inspired by a 300 word article that ran in the November 16, 1959 "The New York Times". The story described the unexplained murder of the Clutter family in rural Holcomb, Kansas, and quoted the local sheriff as saying, "This is apparently the case of a psychopathic killer." Fascinated by this brief news item, Capote traveled with Harper Lee to Holcomb and visited
Breakfast at Tiffany's (novella) friends or close acquaintances of his. Claims have been made as to the source of the character, the "real Holly Golightly", in what Capote called the "Holly Golightly Sweepstakes", including socialite Gloria Vanderbilt, Oona O'Neill, writer/actress Carol Grace, writer Maeve Brennan, writer Doris Lilly, model Dorian Leigh (whom Capote dubbed "Happy Go Lucky"), and her sister, model Suzy Parker. Capote's biographer Gerald Clarke wrote "half the women he knew ... claimed to be the model for his wacky heroine." Clarke also wrote of the similarities between the author himself and the character. There are also similarities between the lives of