Chester B. Himes
Page 66
Himes, Bennie (uncle), 10
Himes, Chester B.:
accidents of (in Paris), 412–13
affairs, 183–84, 191, 197, 255, 276, 339–40, 360, 380, 428, 432, 435, 436, 443, 467, 488; see also specific names
aging, 381, 383, 434, 435–36, 443, 454, 457, 461, 463, 464, 465, 466, 471, 478, 487, 493–94, 496–97
and alcohol, 179, 180–81, 187, 191, 210, 233, 235, 284, 377, 379–80, 383, 385, 394, 395, 402, 410, 412, 415, 424, 440, 466
as author, see Himes, Chester B., writings of
awards and honors to, 391, 392, 477, 497
birth and background of, 1–21, 37
carrying a gun, 72–73, 75–76
childhood of, 2, 23–24, 26, 28, 29, 32–33, 35, 36, 37, 39, 106
in Cleveland, 49–60, 64–65, 66–70, 111
in Columbus, 60–64, 65–66, 70, 109–11
and Communist Party, 149–50, 156, 161–63, 176, 188, 189, 211, 242–43, 287, 332–33, 398, 420, 447, 450, 472
criminal activities of, 68–69, 70, 72, 74–76, 486
death of, 498
and drugs, 111, 253, 278, 286, 304–5, 313, 322, 328, 336, 358, 424
elevator injury of (in Cleveland), 57–60, 61, 64, 66, 173, 174
as ex-convict, 109–12, 113–14, 116, 117, 119, 121, 122, 126, 187, 238, 246, 254, 260–62, 270–71, 280, 285, 287, 288–89, 294, 459, 484, 489
and FBI, 188, 198, 211, 419
and film industry, 423–25, 429, 436, 439, 460–61, 463, 465, 469, 473–74, 479–80, 482–84, 497
finances of, 45, 114, 124, 148, 157, 174, 229, 233, 257, 258, 263–64, 267, 269–70, 271–72, 282, 287, 307, 311, 312, 314, 315, 318, 321, 323, 326, 327, 329, 330, 332, 335, 338, 341–42, 346, 347–48, 355, 364, 366, 379, 384, 407, 408, 411, 412–13, 416, 429, 433, 434–36, 454–55, 456, 461–62, 465, 466, 472, 486, 496–97
in France, xiii; see also Paris
in Franklin County Jail, 70–72, 74
grant applications of, 169, 170–71, 174–75, 248, 260; see also Julius Rosenwald Fund
health issues of, 64, 434, 435–36, 443, 489, 490, 492, 493–94, 496, 497
as iconoclast, xiii–xiv, 260, 269
influence of, xv, 450–51, 452, 470–71, 479–80, 484, 485–86, 487–89, 494, 495
IQ scores of, 53, 61, 80
Jaguar purchased by, 458, 475
leaving the U.S., xiii, 245, 279, 348–49, 436–37, 439
legacy of, xv, 406, 491
and Lesley, see Packard, Lesley
light skin of, 65, 72
loss of confidence, 271, 272–73, 275, 285, 303, 309–10, 316, 318, 319–20, 334
marriage to Jean, 115–16, 123, 126, 128, 164–65, 174, 178–79, 184, 187, 197, 202, 210, 258, 260, 267, 272–73, 274, 281, 290, 496; see also Johnson, Jean Lucinda
in messy love triangles, 302, 333, 340, 343, 360, 379, 380, 392–93, 395, 399–400, 457
name of, 503
and nihilism, 104
in Ohio State Penitentiary, xi, xii; see also Ohio State Penitentiary
and Ohio State University, 55, 60–64, 65–66, 280
overconfidence of, 280–81, 309
personal traits of, 58, 59, 60, 72, 74, 127, 128, 146, 187, 198, 294, 345, 380, 458–59, 461, 462–63, 471
and prostitutes, 56–57, 59, 60, 64, 65, 111, 339
rage of, 46–47, 130–31, 160, 167, 177, 179, 290, 294, 323, 332, 349, 355, 380, 466
reasons for writing, xii, 250
rebelliousness of, 53, 55, 60
and Regine, see Fischer, Regine
reputation of, xiii, 210, 217, 235, 245, 359, 360, 363, 367, 376, 391, 394, 395, 397–98, 406, 407, 411, 425, 438–39, 448–49, 457, 461, 464, 478–79, 480, 481, 483, 484, 489, 491, 495
and Rosenwald Fund, see Julius Rosenwald Fund
schooling of, 29, 32, 35, 39–43, 46–47, 55, 66
self-pity of, 178–79, 248, 249, 255–56, 267, 400, 494
self-realization of, 256–57, 271, 273, 290, 317, 319, 355, 392, 446
survival instincts of, 262–63
at Sussex Village, New Jersey, 258–59
as teenager, 44–45, 46–47, 49–76, 79, 81
undisciplined actions of, 54, 69, 70–71, 72, 73, 79, 111, 116, 187, 191, 202, 208, 210, 233, 255–57, 258, 259, 269, 281–82, 283, 284–85, 322, 343, 350, 355, 379–80
using people and being used, 60, 257, 270, 273, 276, 278, 279–80, 281–82, 288, 290, 321, 334–35, 339, 343–44, 345, 361, 369, 400, 407–8, 409, 435, 470, 471, 496
and Willa, see Thompson, Willa
on workman’s compensation, 58, 59, 60, 90, 110
at Yaddo, 250–58
Himes, Chester B., writings of:
“All God’s Chillun Got Pride,” 128, 168, 176–77
“All He Needs Is Feet,” 168, 171–72
All Shot Up, 394, 401
audience for, 236, 268, 281, 286, 306, 325, 341, 345, 366, 371, 396, 425, 437, 443, 459, 465, 483, 495–96
autobiography/memoir, 31, 33, 88, 91, 93, 116, 122, 169, 179, 181, 242, 258, 260, 263, 267, 268, 270–71, 273, 275–76, 278–79, 286, 305–6, 380, 425, 427–28, 440, 443, 461, 465, 467, 468, 476–78, 480–82, 485–88, 490, 492, 493–96, 505–6, 532
Baby Sister (screenplay), 259, 414–15, 416, 417, 422–23, 424, 429, 482, 491
Back to Africa (book), 429, 433, 439
Back to Africa (screenplay), 416
The Big Gold Dream, 390, 393
Black Boogie Woogie, 282, 318, 325
“The Black Man Has Red Blood,” 97
Black on Black, 482, 490–91
Black Sheep, 89, 144, 260, 261–62, 266, 269
Blind Man with a Pistol, 152, 414, 455, 469, 471, 477, 491
“Boomerang,” 342
Brown’s advice about, 121–22
cannibalism in, 415
A Case of Rape, 369–73, 376, 404, 437, 471, 480
Cast the First Stone, 81, 87, 88, 91, 92, 95, 98, 105, 106, 133, 275–76, 280, 286–87, 288, 313, 318, 323, 328, 329, 330, 345, 347–48, 362, 425
and censorship, 345, 477, 485
Come Back Charleston Blue, 484
The Cops and the Cotton, 439–40
The Cord (later The Third Generation), 278–79, 280–81, 283–85, 287, 301, 305–6, 311, 312
Cotton Comes to Harlem, 254, 420–21, 433–34, 441, 448, 452, 457–58, 460, 461, 463, 465, 466, 469, 474, 480, 482–83, 484, 486
“Crazy in Stir,” 101–2, 159, 424
The Crazy Kill, 459
“A Cup of Tea,” 96, 97
“Da-Da-Dee,” 256
Day After Day, 117
Debt of Time, 275
“Democracy Is for the Unafraid,” 185–86, 265–66
detective fiction, xiii, xiv-xv, 69, 88, 329–30, 372, 374–78, 381–85, 389–91, 394, 396, 402, 414, 426, 428, 429, 433, 443, 455, 456, 457, 461, 467, 468, 475, 477, 491–93, 494
development of, 95–96, 103, 108, 113, 121–22, 164, 177, 317–18, 323, 461
“Did You Ever Catch a Moon”/”A Nigger,” 117
discipline in, xiii, 104, 107, 118–19, 135, 166, 167, 433, 463, 476
dishonesty in, 263
Don’t Play with Death, 394
“E.55th–Central,” 137
The End of a Primitive, 267, 281, 320–24, 326–31, 335, 337, 341, 351, 371, 479, 532
“Every Opportunity,” 113, 117
“Face in the Moonlight,” 140
film treatments, 395, 402, 412, 413, 414–17, 425, 429, 460, 463, 466, 469
The Five Cornered Square, 374, 377, 378, 384
“Flood of Tears,” 276
For Love of Imabelle, 69, 377, 381, 384, 424, 441, 463
“Harlem, or, an American Cancer,” 425–26, 428, 437
The Heat’s On, 402, 410, 458, 459, 484
“Heaven Has Changed,” 163–64
“Her Whole Existence,” 94
“His Last Day,” 92, 93
homosexuality as theme in, 254, 261–62, 286–87
If He Hollers Let Him Go, xiii, xiv, 174, 192–97, 200, 203–9, 213–18, 221, 222, 224, 229, 243, 245, 247, 259, 260, 268, 278, 296, 299, 319, 321, 328, 331, 332, 345, 347, 366, 368, 372, 383, 396, 397, 418, 437, 441, 447, 448, 461, 463, 473, 479–80, 481, 485, 491
If Trouble Was Money, 381
Immortal Mammy, 234–35, 247–49, 257, 259, 272, 371
“In the Night,” 162–63
It Rained Five Days, 330
A Jealous Man Can’t Win, 384–85, 387
“Journey Out of Fear,” 262–63
La Croisade de Lee Gordon (translation), 272, 287
La Fin d’un primitif, 351, 365
La Reine des pommes (The Queen of Apples), 378–79, 387–89, 390, 391, 396, 397, 398, 411, 413, 414, 440, 455, 458
La Troisième Génération, 438
“Let Me at the Enemy—an’ George Brown,” 197
literary reviews, 132–33, 173, 461
Lonely Crusade, xiii, xiv, 67–68, 92, 145–46, 160, 226–27, 231–46, 247–50, 257, 263, 265, 267, 272, 279–80, 281, 287–89, 306, 312, 313, 316, 321, 325, 328, 331, 341, 342, 370, 383, 396, 422–23, 432, 436, 470, 473, 478, 491, 497
“Looking Down the Street,” 128, 132
“Lunching at the Ritzmore,” 163
“Make with a Shape,” 197
“The Mall, From Rockwell,” 136
“Mama’s Missionary Money,” 263
Mamie Mason, 355, 357–59, 360–61, 363, 366, 370–71, 376, 388, 403, 407–8, 416, 417, 438
“Marihuana and a Pistol,” 131–32
“Maud,” 352, 355
“The Mice and the Cheese,” 444
“A Modern Fable,” 129
“A Modern Marriage,” 94
“Money Don’t Spend in Stir,” 174–75
My Life of Absurdity, 380, 428, 493, 494–95, 498
My People, My People, 325–26, 458
“Negro Martyrs Are Needed,” 175–76, 221
Ne nous énervons pas!, 410, 414
“Night of Manhood,” 382
“A Night of New Roses,” 191
“The Night’s for Crying,” 92, 93, 113, 158
“Now Is the Time! Here Is the Place!,” 161–62
on Oedipus complex, 268, 280
“On the Use of Force,” 467
personal catharsis via, 323, 324
Pinktoes, 186, 355, 408, 409, 410, 412, 422, 431, 441, 448, 452, 454–55, 461, 465, 468, 529
Plan B, 475–76
“Playhouse Square,” 136
political theory in, 175–76
and pornography, 319–22, 324, 408
The Primitive, xiv, 256, 270, 284, 289, 341–42, 345, 347–48, 352, 353, 360, 367, 371, 374, 379, 382, 425, 441, 448, 464–65, 473
in prison, see Ohio State Penitentiary
“the prison manuscript,” 136, 138, 139–41, 144, 149, 152, 233, 254, 267, 269, 275–76, 280
“Prison Mass,” 95, 99, 102, 105, 159
The Quality of Hurt, 93, 380, 485–89, 505, 532
race and social class in, xiii, xiv, 168, 169, 173–74, 175–77, 457–58, 465, 476, 491, 494, 495
Race, Sex and War, 181
A Rage in Harlem, 377, 391, 396, 400, 408, 441, 448
The Real Cool Killers, 381–82, 420
Retour en Afrique, 441, 447
Run Man Run, 389, 458, 478, 491
“A Salute to the Passing,” 113, 128, 134
“Scram!,” 117
“Shaker Square,” 137
S’il braille lâche-le, 331
Silver Altar (coauthor), see Thompson, Willa
“The Snake,” 311, 342, 345, 374–75, 396
“The Something in a Colored Man,” 218
“The Song Says ‘Keep on Smiling,’ ” 197
“So Softly Smiling,” 168
“Spanish Gin,” 342
“Stool Pigeon,” 254
“Strictly Business,” 132, 158
style of, 96, 120, 123, 144, 170, 192–96, 203, 228, 244, 246, 268, 305, 321, 325, 358, 371, 376, 377–78, 455, 461, 477, 494, 495
successes of, 97, 98, 134, 138, 166, 189, 203, 213–14, 218, 286, 371, 376, 383–84, 391, 393, 457, 458, 472, 482, 492, 494
“That Summer in Bed,” 342
“These People Never Die,” 249
“The Things You Do,” 140
The Third Generation, xiv, 31, 51–52, 56, 58, 59, 66, 263, 268–69, 270, 276, 278–79, 287, 299, 300, 301, 312, 313, 315, 317, 318, 320, 321, 323, 324, 326, 328, 330, 331, 335, 348, 350, 366, 368, 374, 382–83, 390, 396, 441, 448, 458, 494, 505–6
“To What Red Hell,” 87, 89, 101, 103, 159, 391
Trouble Wears a Skirt, 372
“Two Soldiers,” 163
An Uncle Tom You Never Knew, 259–60
Une Affaire de viol, 437, 439, 458, 468, 493
“The Visiting Hour,” 113–14
The Way It Was, 461
white characters in, 99, 101, 104, 237, 491
“With Malice Toward None,” 123, 128, 129
Yesterday Will Make You Cry, 73–74, 81, 87–88, 141, 221–22, 224–25, 234, 254, 267, 268, 276
Himes, Edward (brother), 321, 491
birth and childhood of, 16, 26, 30
and family, 49, 134, 275
“On Dreams and Reality,” 109
in university, 36, 38, 44, 55
Himes, Estelle Bomar (mother), 303
“Alcorn Ode” by, 33–34
birth of, 5
and Chester’s writing, 98, 140–41, 279, 334, 495
children of, 16, 20, 26, 98
cultural ambitions of, 8, 22, 23–24, 26, 30, 31, 32, 34–35, 44, 51, 52, 54, 71, 89, 96, 116, 120, 140, 203
death of, 203, 205, 210
divorce of, 70–71, 73
family background of, 1–4
and Joseph, 15–18
light skin of, 18, 25, 51, 58
and marital discord, 17, 36–37, 51–52, 58, 59, 64
marriage of, 8–9, 16, 20
move to Cleveland, 49, 51
and son Joe’s eyesight, 54, 58, 70, 73, 91, 360
as teacher, 31
Himes, Fannie [Wiggins] (aunt), 10, 16, 26, 49, 51–52, 63, 73, 111, 203, 506
Himes, Jean (wife), see Johnson, Jean
Himes, Joseph Sandy (father), 11–22, 146, 447
birth and background of, 8–10, 37
as blacksmith, 11, 20, 22, 25, 27, 37
and blacksmithing as outmoded craft, 30
and Chester’s jail sentence, 90, 110
and Chester’s marriage to Jean, 116
and Chester’s parole, 111
and Chester’s probation, 71–72
and Chester’s writing, 239, 240, 495
dealings with white people, 36–37, 339
death of, 285–86, 300
divorce of, 70–71, 73
family of, 10, 21–22, 24, 26, 37, 507
laborer’s jobs of, 45–46, 49, 64, 67, 71, 111, 113, 346
and marital discord, 17, 36–37, 51–52, 58, 59, 64
marriage of, 8–9, 16, 20
operation undergone by, 225, 232
remarriage of, 90, 114
as teacher, 12–17, 25, 27, 29–30, 36, 38–40, 44
work ethic of, 56, 58, 113
Himes, Joseph Sandy, Jr. (brother), 209, 339, 421, 436, 496–97
achievements of, 70, 90–91, 110, 117–18, 125, 128, 265, 275, 417, 491
birth of, 20
and “The Boiling Point,” 220
and Chester’s writing, 244, 320, 366, 494, 497–98
childhood of, 2, 23–24, 26, 29–32, 35–37
and Estelle’s death, 203
eye injury of, 43–45, 52, 53, 54, 73, 88, 89, 360, 491
and family discord, 51
learning Braille, 45
marriage to Jones, 118
name of, 507
“The Negro Delinquent in Columbus, 1935,” 98
at Oberlin, 70, 90
schooling of, 29, 35, 39–42, 53–54, 70
&
nbsp; as teacher, 91, 264, 417
Himes, Joseph Sandy (Sandy Neely), 9–10
Himes, Leah (aunt), 10, 11, 24; see also Moon, Leah Himes
Himes, Lesley Packard (second wife), see Packard, Lesley
Himes, Mary (aunt), 10
Himes, Theresa Estelle Jones (Joe Jr.’s wife), 118, 265, 266, 366, 417
Himes, Thomas (uncle), 10
Himes, Wesley (uncle), 10
Hines, family name of, 9
Hines, Elizabeth, 9
Hines, John William, 9
Hines, Joseph Henry, 9
Hitchcock, Alfred, 253
Holiday, Billie, 233, 248, 381
Holland, Charles, 154, 190, 329, 439, 468
Holly, John O., 131
Hollywood blacklist, 155, 243, 297–98
Hollywood films, racial issues in, 172, 423–24, 460, 474, 484
Hollywood Writers Mobilization, 155, 172
Holt, Nora, 190, 191
Hood, R. B., 188
Hoover, J. Edgar, 176, 386, 423
Hopkins, Pauline, 15
Hopper, Hedda, 198
Horn and Hardart Automats, 347
Horne, Lena, 154, 155, 177, 199
Hornung, Cecilia, 404
Houghton Mifflin, 185, 333, 334
House Un-American Activities Committee, 386
Houston, Emanuel W., 17
Howard, Nathaniel, 136, 170–71
Howard, Oliver Otis, 13
Howard, Vilma, 355
Howard University, 13, 55, 63, 213
Howard University Press, 480
Huggins, Nathan, 495
The Harlem Renaissance, 486–87
Hughes, Langston, xii, 52, 100, 107, 147, 404, 479
and Communist Party, 149, 182
contacts of, 149, 158, 199, 220
“Cowards in Our Colleges,” 112
“The Folks at Home,” 101
“A Good Job Gone,” 101
Himes’s letters to, 148, 227
Little Ham, 112
Not Without Laughter, 94
reputation of, 138, 188, 367
as role model, 94, 113, 324
and social issues, 101, 112–13, 212, 298
socializing, 188, 190, 205
as supportive of other authors, 128, 132, 149, 189
Troubled Island, 112
and Yaddo, 236, 252
Hullabaloo (film), 154
Hunter, Kristin, 479
The Landlord, 462
Hurston, Zora Neale, 149, 152, 184
Huxley, Aldous, 383
Hyman, Stanley Edgar, 245
Hymes, name of, 17
If He Hollers Let Him Go (film; not Himes title), 479
Ile de France, 287, 290–92
Improved Benevolent Protective Order of Elks, 64–65
Independent, The, 41
Indian National Congress, 161