by JOHN ELIGON
A woman died in her Upper East Side apartment after it caught fire early yesterday. Fire Department officials were still investigating the circumstances surrounding the fire yesterday afternoon.
Neighbors described the woman, Marilyn Kaytor, as a heavy smoker and drinker who was reclusive.
The fire apparently started shortly before 7 a.m., the Fire Department said, and was contained to Ms. Kaytor's apartment on the third floor of a six-story brick building. The building sits on 79th Street near Park Avenue, a residential street in an upscale neighborhood.
Shattered windows in Ms. Kaytor's apartment were visible from the front of the gray building. Shards of glass lay on the sidewalk. The area around the windows was charred, as was a part of the ceiling in the apartment that could be seen from the street.
A pair of medics brought out the body of Ms. Kaytor, 78, shortly before 11 a.m. in a black bag on a stretcher, loading it into an ambulance.
Neighbors said that they seldom saw Ms. Kaytor and that she often had food delivered.
One neighbor said she once told him that she used to be an author and a journalist.
In 1965, a food editor at Look magazine named Marilyn Kaytor was caught in a dispute over the will of Robert Ruark, the author and syndicated columnist. The will left Mr. Ruark's property in Spain to Ms. Kaytor. Mr. Ruark's ex-wife, Virginia, challenged the will, but the outcome was unclear yesterday.
Look folded in 1971. Ms. Kaytor published a book in 1975 titled "21: The Life and Times of New York's Favorite Club."
Yesterday, two residents of the building said the Fire Department had been called several times to deal with flooding from the apartment that burned.
One of the neighbors, a woman who lived directly below the apartment, said, "I've been terrified that this would happen eventually."
Sean McManus contributed reporting.
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