John A. Williams

John A. Williams
John A. Williams
	Williams in 1962 (photo byCarl van Vechten)
Born	John Alfred Williams; December 5, 1925; Jackson, Mississippi,US
Died	July 3, 2015(aged 89); Paramus, New Jersey,US
Occupation	Novelist; poet; journalist; academic;
Alma mater	Syracuse University
Notable works	The Man Who Cried I Am(1967)
Notable awards	American Book Award
Spouse	Lori Isaac (m. 1965)

John Alfred Williams(December 5, 1925 – July 3, 2015) was anAfrican Americanauthor, journalist, and academic. His novelThe Man Who Cried I Amwas a bestseller in 1967.^[1]Also a poet, he won anAmerican Book Awardfor his 1998 collectionSafari West.^[2]

Life and career

Williams was born inJackson, Mississippi,and his family moved toSyracuse, New York.After naval service inWorld War II,he graduated in 1950 fromSyracuse University.He was a journalist forEbony(his September 1963Ebonyarticle "Negro In Literature Today" has been singled out for particular praise),^[3]^[4]Jet,andNewsweekmagazines.^[5]

His novels, which includeThe Angry Ones(1960) andThe Man Who Cried I Am(1967), are mainly about the black experience in white America.The Man Who Cried I Am,a fictionalized account of the life and death of African-American writerRichard Wright,introduced theKing Alfred Plan– a fictionalCIA-led scheme supporting an international effort to eliminate people of African descent. This "plan" has since been cited as fact by some members of the Black community and conspiracy theorists.^{[citation needed]}Sons of Darkness, Sons of Light: A Novel of Some Probability(1969) imagines arace warin the United States.^[6]The novel begins as athrillerwith aspects ofdetective fictionandspy fiction,before transitioning toapocalyptic fictionat the point when the characters' revolt begins.^[7]

In the early 1980s, Williams and the composer and flautistLeslie Burrs,with the agreement ofMercer Ellington,began collaborating on the completion ofQueenie Pie,anoperabyDuke Ellingtonthat had been left unfinished at Ellington's death. The project fell through, and the opera was eventually completed by other hands.^[8]

In 2003, Williams performed aspoken-wordpiece onTransform,an album by rock bandPowerman 5000.At the time, his son Adam Williams was the band'sguitarist.

Personal life

Williams married Lori Isaac in 1965 and moved in 1975 fromManhattantoTeaneck, New Jersey,as it was a place that "would not be inhospitable to a mixed marriage".^[9]

Dear Chester, Dear John,a collection of personal letters between Williams andChester Himes,who had met in 1961 and maintained a lifelong friendship, was published in 2008.

Honorable recognitions

In 1970, Williams received theSyracuse UniversityCentennial Medal for Outstanding Achievement,^[10]in 1983 his novel!Click Songwon theAmerican Book Award,^[11]and in 1998, his book of poetrySafari Westalso won the American Book Award.^[11]On October 16, 2011, he received a Lifetime Achievement award from the American Book Awards.^[12]

Death

Williams died on July 3, 2015, inParamus, New Jersey,aged 89. He hadAlzheimer's disease.^[13]

Legacy

Williams' personal papers, including correspondence and photographs, are held at Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries at theUniversity of Rochester.^[14]There is also a collection of Williams' papers at the Special Collections Research Center^[15]at Syracuse University.

Selected bibliography

Novels

The Angry Ones,Norton, 1960, 9780393314649;The Angry Ones: A Novel.Open Road Media. February 2, 2016.ISBN 978-1-5040-2591-1.
Night Song,Farrar, Straus and Cudahy,1961;Night Song: A Novel.Open Road Media. February 2, 2016.ISBN 978-1-5040-2572-0.
Sissie,Farrar, Straus and Cudahy, 1963; Chatham Bookseller, 1975,ISBN 9780911860535
The Man Who Cried I Am,Little, Brown,1967;The Man Who Cried I Am: A Novel.Library of America.November 7, 2023.ISBN 978-1598537611.
Sons of Darkness, Sons of Light,Little, Brown, 1969;Eyre & Spottiswoode,1970,ISBN 9780413446206
Captain Blackman,Coffee House Press,1972,ISBN 9781566890960Captain Blackman: A Novel.Open Road Media. February 2, 2016.ISBN 978-1-5040-3264-3.
Mothersill and the Foxes,Doubleday, 1975,ISBN 9780385094542
The Junior Bachelor Society,Doubleday, 1976,ISBN 9780385094559
!Click Song,1982ISBN 9780395318416;!Click Song: A Novel.Open Road Media. February 2, 2016.ISBN 978-1-5040-3304-6.
The Berhama Account,New Horizon Press Publishers, 1985,ISBN 9780882820095
Jacob's Ladder,New York:Thunder's Mouth Press,1987; 1989,ISBN 9780938410768
Clifford's Blues,Coffee House Press, 1999,ISBN 9781566890809;Clifford's Blues: A Novel.Open Road Media. February 2, 2016.ISBN 978-1-5040-3305-3.

Non-fiction

Africa: Her History, Lands and People: Told with Pictures.Rowman & Littlefield. 1962.ISBN 978-0-8154-0258-9.
This Is My Country Too(New American Library, 1965)^[16]
The King God Didn't Save: Reflections on the Life and Death of Martin Luther King, Jr.(1970)
The Most Native of Sons: A Biography of Richard Wright(1970)
Flashbacks: A Twenty-Year Diary of Article Writing(1973)
If I Stop I'll Die: The Comedy and Tragedy of Richard Pryor(Thunder's Mouth Press, 1991)

Poetry

Safari West: Poems(Hochelaga Press, 1998)

Letters

Dear Chester, Dear John: Letters between Chester Himes and John A. Williams(compiled and edited with Lori Williams), Wayne State University Press, 2008,ISBN 9780814333556

References

^Marnie Eisenstadt,"Author John A. Williams dies; Syracuse University alum wrote best-selling novel",Syracuse.com, July 7, 2015.
^"Safari West: Poems".AALBC.com.
^"Negro In Literature Today".Ebony.Johnson Publishing Company. September 1963. pp. 73–76.RetrievedAugust 18,2020.
^Troy (July 17, 2014)."Ebony Magazine's September 1963 Issue Was Great!".AALBC.RetrievedAugust 18,2020.
^Bates, Karen Grigsby (July 13, 2015)."A Tribute To John Williams, The Man Who Wrote 'I Am'".NPR.org.RetrievedJune 2,2016.
^Fiorelli, Julie A. (2014)."Imagination Run Riot: Apocalyptic Race-War Novels of the Late 1960s".Mediations.28(1): 127.
^Fiorelli 2014,p. 138.
^"Queenie".Opera World.Archived from the original on 2004-02-09.Retrieved2023-03-08.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
^Horner, Shirley."New Jersey Q & A: John A. Williams; A Novelist's Journey in Race Relations",The New York Times,June 13, 1993. Accessed July 8, 2015. "In an interview at his home in Teaneck, Professor Williams, 67, further talked about the relationship between blacks and whites in general, and blacks and Jews in particular; his interracial marriage and the experience of teaching at Rutgers.... In 1975, the Williamses left Manhattan for Teaneck; four years later, he accepted a full-time professorship at Rutgers.... Q. How did you come to Teaneck? A. We came here because we felt the town would not be inhospitable to a mixed marriage."
^"Syracuse Centennial Medal".Syracuse University. Archived fromthe originalon July 8, 2008.RetrievedFebruary 18,2008.
^^a ^bAmerican Booksellers Association (2013)."The American Book Awards / Before Columbus Foundation [1980–2012]".BookWeb.Archived fromthe originalon 13 March 2013.Retrieved25 September2013.1983...!Click Song...1998...Safari West...2011... Lifetime Achievement.
^"Lifetime Achievement Award for John A. Williams",Department of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester.
^William Grimes,"John A. Williams, 89, Dies; Underrated Novelist Who Wrote About Black Identity",The New York Times,July 6, 2015.
^John A. Williams Papers.A finding aid to his papers at the University of Rochester.John A. Williams: Writings of Consequence.A digital exhibit of materials from the John A. Williams papers.
^John A. Williams Papers.An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University.
^"This Is My Country Too"(review),Kirkus Reviews,May 1, 1965.

External links

"Writings of Consequence: The Art of John A. Williams".University of Rochester.Archived fromthe originalon 2009-02-16.Retrieved2006-07-18.Online Exhibit.

"John A. Williams".OleMiss.edu.Archived fromthe originalon 2010-05-30.Retrieved2010-10-28.Writers Page.
"John A. Williams '…arguably the finest African-American novelist of his generation'".African American Literature Book Club.
John A. Williams papers,D.293, Rare Books, Special Collections, and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester
Black Writers in Paris, the FBI, and a Lost 1960s Classic: RediscoveringThe Man Who Cried I Am(online Library of America discussion of Williams andThe Man Who Cried I Amwith Merve Imre, Adam Bradley, and William Maxwell, November 2023)

[1] Marnie Eisenstadt,"Author John A. Williams dies; Syracuse University alum wrote best-selling novel",Syracuse.com, July 7, 2015.

[2] "Safari West: Poems".AALBC.com.

[3] "Negro In Literature Today".Ebony.Johnson Publishing Company. September 1963. pp. 73–76.RetrievedAugust 18,2020.

[4] Troy (July 17, 2014)."Ebony Magazine's September 1963 Issue Was Great!".AALBC.RetrievedAugust 18,2020.

[5] Bates, Karen Grigsby (July 13, 2015)."A Tribute To John Williams, The Man Who Wrote 'I Am'".NPR.org.RetrievedJune 2,2016.

[6] Fiorelli, Julie A. (2014)."Imagination Run Riot: Apocalyptic Race-War Novels of the Late 1960s".Mediations.28(1): 127.

[FOOTNOTEFiorelli2014138-7] Fiorelli 2014,p. 138.

[8] "Queenie".Opera World.Archived from the original on 2004-02-09.Retrieved2023-03-08.{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

[9] Horner, Shirley."New Jersey Q & A: John A. Williams; A Novelist's Journey in Race Relations",The New York Times,June 13, 1993. Accessed July 8, 2015. "In an interview at his home in Teaneck, Professor Williams, 67, further talked about the relationship between blacks and whites in general, and blacks and Jews in particular; his interracial marriage and the experience of teaching at Rutgers.... In 1975, the Williamses left Manhattan for Teaneck; four years later, he accepted a full-time professorship at Rutgers.... Q. How did you come to Teaneck? A. We came here because we felt the town would not be inhospitable to a mixed marriage."

[10] "Syracuse Centennial Medal".Syracuse University. Archived fromthe originalon July 8, 2008.RetrievedFebruary 18,2008.

[ABA-11] American Booksellers Association (2013)."The American Book Awards / Before Columbus Foundation [1980–2012]".BookWeb.Archived fromthe originalon 13 March 2013.Retrieved25 September2013.1983...!Click Song...1998...Safari West...2011... Lifetime Achievement.

[12] "Lifetime Achievement Award for John A. Williams",Department of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation, River Campus Libraries, University of Rochester.

[13] William Grimes,"John A. Williams, 89, Dies; Underrated Novelist Who Wrote About Black Identity",The New York Times,July 6, 2015.

[14] John A. Williams Papers.A finding aid to his papers at the University of Rochester.John A. Williams: Writings of Consequence.A digital exhibit of materials from the John A. Williams papers.

[15] John A. Williams Papers.An inventory of his papers at Syracuse University.

[16] "This Is My Country Too"(review),Kirkus Reviews,May 1, 1965.

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