Note: The following article from the December 1983 Town & Country magazine w
as sent to me by William Wemple of Charlottesville, VA:

A descendant of American portrait painter John Singleton Copley, Joe W
emple creates portraits in film. As a documentary producer, he has fi
lmed Pueblo Indians in Santa Fe and equestrians in Virginia horse coun
try (for his most famous work, Just Crazy About Horses). Wemple vis
its the Los Roques National Park in Venezuela each winter, but loves t
he New York whirlwind of parties at Christmas and often entertains i
n his silk-lined library, with its velvet couch, antique needlepoint r
ug, Louis XVI end table and George III bookcase. His black-tie dinner
s are catered. I am not a great cook, although I make a mean pasta,
he says. The combination of guests is the most important thing.
He enjoys his bachelorhood. it´s essential for every New York host
ess to have a list of us, we´re at a high premium. Behind him is a
n eighteenth-century portrait of the Duc de Richelieu by the French pa
inter Carle van Loo.


The above article is accompanied by three photographs, including one o
f Joseph Copley Wemple standing behind, what I assume to be, the Loui
s XVI end table and the Carle van Loo portrait described above. Eloque
nce and opulence simply exude from these three photos. As of 1996, Jo
seph C. Wemple was a resident of San Francisco. DRW

A family member reports that in all probability this entire episode wa
s staged for the benefit of the author´s gullibility. DRW

Another family member reports that in no way are they descended fro
m the famous portrait painter, John Singleton Copley. DRW