Elizabeth Post Has Died; Etiquette Authority And Successor To Emily Post

Elizabeth Lindley Post, who married into a family famous for its good manners and directed the Emily Post Institute in Burlington, Vt., after the death of her legendary grandmother-in-law, has died.

The institute says she passed away Saturday in Naples, Fla., "surrounded by her family." She was 89.

As this Burlington Free Press obituary says, "Libby" married Bill Post -- grandson of Emily -- in 1944. And:

"In the early 1960s, she assumed responsibility for carrying on the Post family tradition of writing and teaching about etiquette. Libby quickly became, and remained for the next 30 years, America's leading authority on etiquette. Six times she revised and modernized the classic Etiquette, originally written by Emily Post."

The institute, still run by family members, says it "serves as a 'civility barometer' for American society and continues Emily's work. That work has grown to address the societal concerns of the 21st century including business etiquette, raising polite children and civility in America."

Post retired in 1995. Her daughter-in-law (and institute director), Peggy Post, tells the Associated Press that "Libby" was appalled by the state of manners in recent years:

"She didn't say, tsk tsk, at all," said Peggy Post. "She recognized that there's always going to be rude situations. Most people don't want to be rude. Most people do care about being kind and considerate. But because we're such a rushed world, people get frustrated and there are a lot of sticky situations."