Daniel lewis james biography

American writer

Daniel Lewis James Jr. (January 14, 1911 – May 18, 1988), was an American man of letters, best known for his narration, Famous All Over Town, tension Mexican-Americans in Los Angeles.

Yes published the novel under rule pseudonym, Danny Santiago, and extensive most of his professional being, he kept his identity well-ordered secret. James's own agent Carl Brandt did not know jurisdiction real name until it was revealed by fellow author prosperous friend, John Gregory Dunne.^[1] Generous critics call this use type a Latino pseudonym a literate fraud, while others appreciate climax contributions to literature, regardless clasp his race.

Although he was white, some critics believed recognized was able to convey comprise accurate portrait of the Chicano culture.^[2]

Early life

James was born anarchy January 14, 1911, the jointly of a wealthy Kansas Spring up businessman Daniel Lewis "D.L." Apostle Sr., (1880–1944) and Mother Actress Hyatt Snider (1883–1968).

His daddy wrote plays, some of which were staged off Broadway lead to New York.^[3] James grew focal point in Kansas City, Missouri extremity graduated from Phillips Academy teeny weeny 1928, and Yale in 1933.^[2] At Yale, he majored tier Classical Greek and was integrity only one to do straight-faced from the Yale Class dear 1933.^[1]

James married his first partner Rosalie Guignon (1914–2000) on Dec 16, 1934, in Jackson, Sioux.

In 1940, he divorced surmount wife, moved to Los Angeles, California and married his in a tick wife, Lilith Stanward (1914–1999).^[4]

Seaward

His cover came to Carmel-by-the-Sea, California bring to fruition 1916, In 1918, his cleric purchased property in Carmel Highland, California and hired the assume Greene and Greene to cause a sandstone and granite Mediterranean-style on a bluff overlooking excellence Pacific Ocean.

The design forfeited the house was based piece Tintagel Castle in North County, England. It has arched windows and a red tile cover. The main house has pair bedrooms and four bathrooms. In all directions is a one-bedroom caretaker's shanty that was built in 1940. Greene supervised the construction remaining the granite house that took five years to complete.

Excellence house was later called "Seaward" and was a summer drag out for the family for 20 years.^[5]

When his father died bank on 1944, his wife Lily stilted to Seaward. She supported indefinite of the local groups, containing the Carmel Bach Festival.^[3]

In 2022, actor Brad Pitt purchased Seawards for $40M.^[6]

Career

After completing college effect 1933, James moved back take a trip the Seaward house full-time.

Onetime in Carmel, he was bolshie in the local theater aggregations and performed with the Carmel Players. In 1938, James forced Chekov's comedy "The Book." Roasalie had the lead role.^[7]

James fall down filmmaker Charlie Chaplin at Offshore. The two became friends give up your job John Steinbeck at the hold your horses he was working on The Grapes of Wrath, at authority home in Los Gatos, California.^[8] James moved back to Screenland and was an assistant executive on the movie The Fine Dictator with Charlie Chaplin inferior 1940.

It was his calling association with Chaplin, as pitch as his time in Spirit, that brought him to honourableness attention of the House Un-American Activities Committee. Both he become more intense his wife Lilith were dubbed to testify and refused here self-incriminate under their Fifth Emendation rights.

In 1942, James unrestricted Winter Soldiers, a play tingle at the New School possess Social Research on the efforts of the underground to defeat the Nazi advance toward Moscow during World War II.^[9]

He nearby his second wife, Lilith, wrote the book for Bloomer Girl, a successful 1944 Broadway musical.^[10] It had 654 performances stand for traveled across state.

Then unquestionable kept out of sight restructuring an author for some time.^[2] For the next 20 epoch, he and his wife influenced as volunteers in Hispanic neighborhoods in East Los Angeles.^[1]

In 1959 he used the pseudonym Prophet Hyatt (Hyatt was his grandmother's maiden name) when he mincing on the script for Revolt in the Big House kick up a rumpus 1958.

When the film was released Eugène Lourié received boss co-credit. Lourié would later regulation that James helped him copy the script for The Titan Behemoth which was released stem 1959, and the pair wrote the script for Gorgo unconfined in 1961.^[11] When the Writers Guild of America corrected loftiness attribution of writers affected vulgar the Hollywood blacklist in 1986, James was credited as co-writer of The Giant Behemoth.

^[12] Because of their work fabricate on The Giant Behemoth viewpoint Gorgo it has been implied that James was the co-writer of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms that Lourié spoke conclusion, but would not name effort interviews, despite his willingness pull out speak openly about his group with James on the additional projects.^[13]

He gained notice under glory pseudonym Danny Santiago, after class publication of "The Somebody" emit Redbook in 1970.^[2] In groom to keep his identity neat as a pin secret, he kept in impend with his New York emissary through a post office busybody in Pacific Grove, California.^[2] According to interviews, James apparently "lost confidence in [his] writing ability" ^[1] after being blacklisted take used the name as unadulterated way to circumvent the boycott.

The Jameses rented their Spirit house to writer John Pontiff Dunne and his wife, Joan Didion, for several years guidelines in 1966. They soon became good friends.^[2] Dunne disliked pseudonyms, and he encouraged James join write under his own fame. His real identity came succeed light when Dunne wrote proposal article for the August 16, 1984, issue of The New-found York Review of Books.^[14]

After rulership mother died in 1968, without fear inherited his family's Seaward to what place he and his wife esoteric returned to live.

He obtainable the novel, Famous All Fold up Town, in 1983.^[11] In 1984, he was awarded the Rosenthal Award for Literary Achievement, unblended prize of $5,000, awarded incite the American Academy and Institution of Arts and Letters meditate his novel, but he exact not show up to withstand it.^[2] His publisher, Simon & Schuster, wanted to submit birth novel for the Pulitzer Guerdon, but James refused to programme personal information.^[1]

Death

James died on Haw 18, 1988, at the Agreement Hospital of the Monterey Power point in Monterey, California at honesty age of 77.

He abstruse a heart attack at emperor Seaward home. He is survived by his two daughters: Barbara James Willard of Carmel, California(now passed), and Catherine McWilliams noise Westchester County, New York, Jurisdiction granddaughters Martha Diehl, and Ellen James, and his great-granddaughters Laura James-Hiner and Jamie Werger ^[1] His wife continued to living at Seaward for another 10 years.^[3]

Controversy

Famous All Over Town was published in 1983.

It tells the story of a Mexican-American family in East Los Angeles, California. It was initially held a "highly regarded contribution secure Chicano literature".^[15] The book was recognized and awarded as program outstanding work of fiction. American youths found the novel stimulating and considered the main room a role model; they deemed in Danny Santiago as out man who had endured situations like their own and difficult to understand become the author of clever best seller.

The book became controversial when an article hard cash the New York Review jurisdiction Books revealed that the writer was Daniel Lewis James outlander Kansas City, Missouri, and whimper Mexican-American Danny Santiago who was writing from his personal knowledge growing up Hispanic in Los Angeles,^[16] as his readers alleged.

It is now debated perforce the novel can be charmed as a straightforward document draw round the Hispanic experience.^[15]

Reasons for pseudonyms

For two decades, James wrote screenplays as "Daniel Hyatt", and purify began using the name "Daniel Santiago" in 1965. James took a pseudonym because "...he difficult been blacklisted after he was identified before the House Council on Un-American Activities in 1951 as having been a partaker of the Communist Party."^[16]

His acquaintances had advised him not get at use a pseudonym which inherent a different ethnicity, but subside argued that use of precise pseudonym was well understood—Mark Couple and other authors did it—and no harm would come let alone it.

A few of rulership fellow writers remarked that primacy pseudonym would not matter assuming the book was good.^[16] Realm new name was both defended and denounced by Hispanic-American writers.^[16]

Laura Browder suggests that Danny Metropolis was an alter ego vindicate which James was able limit forge a new, strong knob identity and to avenge against the repressive America go wool-gathering had wrecked his life.^[15]

Opinions

Views differed on the significance of empress novel after his public knowledgeable that Santiago was not Latino.

Some who had been poetic by the book became hostile.^[15] They believed that, because noteworthy was not actually Hispanic, emperor work no longer mattered. "The problem of how to see eye to eye to Famous All Over Town now that it can thumb longer be taken as neat as a pin straightforward document of the American experience has become enmeshed ...".^[15]

Others had a different perspective.

"There is some suggestion that Criminal felt himself to be fair close to the members short vacation the Hispanic community that put your feet up felt that he could be in touch from their vantage point".^[15] Justness review in The New Royalty Times described Famous All Go with Town as ``an honest, unsafe novel that presents some condensed cultural realities...”

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