William Demby

William Demby (December 25, 1922 – May 23, 2013) was an African-American writer, whose works include Beetlecreek (1950), The Catacombs (1965), Love Story Black (1978) and King Comus (2007, published posthumously in November 2017).[1]

William Demby
William Demby (1956)
Photo by Carl Van Vechten
BornWilliam Demby
(1922-12-25)December 25, 1922
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US
DiedMay 23, 2013(2013-05-23) (aged 90)
Sag Harbor, Long Island, NY, US
OccupationNovelist, Actor
NationalityAmerican
Period1950–2013
Notable worksBeetlecreek; The Catacombs; Love Story Black; King Comus
Notable awardsAnisfield-Wolf 2006 Lifetime Achievement Award
SpouseLucia Drudi (1953–95 her death) Barbara Morris (2004–his death)

Life

William Demby was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on December 25, 1922. Demby was raised alongside six siblings by his mother who was a schoolteacher and his father who worked for a natural gas company.[2] His family later moved to Clarksburg, West Virginia. He studied English briefly at West Virginia State University but was drafted into an African-American cavalry unit that was deployed to North Africa and Italy during World War II. During his military service he contributed to the Army publication Stars and Stripes.[3]

After the war he graduated from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee in 1947. That same year, he moved to Rome, Italy, where he studied art and art history at the University of Rome. In 1953, he married Italian actress and screenplay writer Lucia Drudi. The couple had a son, James Gabriele Demby, in 1955, who composes and teaches music in Italy. Lucia Drudi died in 1995.[4]

During his decades living in Rome, Demby worked for many important Italian film directors, among them Federico Fellini, translating Italian screenplays and films into English. He was assistant director of dialogue on Roberto Rossellini's film Europa 51, starring Ingrid Bergman. He acted in the film Anna's Sin, an Italian remake of Othello, drawing attention to the interracial romance depicted. Demby also wrote for various American magazines, among them The Reporter.

In Italy, he wrote his first existentialist novel, Beetlecreek (1950), which went on to be one of his first greatest works. Then, he released an even more experimental novel, The Catacombs (1965).

Later in life, he reconnected with Barbara Morris, whom he knew from his time at Fisk University. Morris was a former lawyer with NAACP, and the two married in 2004.

Demby began teaching English in 1969 at the College of Staten Island (CUNY), where he worked until the late 1980s. Demby published his third novel, Love Story Black, in 1978 on Reed, Cannon and Johnson. He returned to Italy often, spending time in Rome, and in a villa in Tuscany, where he lived for nearly a decade from the late 1980s until the late '90s. Demby spent his final years in Sag Harbor, NY.

In 2006, Demby was honored with the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award for lifetime achievement.

His last novel, King Comus, was finished in 2007 and remained in manuscript form at the time of Demby's death. Published posthumously in November 2017 by Ishmael Reed Publishing Company, it was designated "REDISCOVERED NOVEL OF THE YEAR" by Jeff Biggers in the Huffington Post.[5]

William Demby died in Sag Harbor, Long Island, New York, on May 23, 2013.

Career

Books

  • Beetlecreek (1950)
    • Set in West Virginia, the novel follows the intricate race relations between an elderly white man, a young black teen involved in gangs, and an artist in an unhealthy relationship.[6]
  • The Catacombs (1965)
    • Expanding the literary boundaries for Black authors, this fictional/non-fictional novel follows the main character Bill Demby and his experience as an author.[7]
  • Love Story Black (1978)
  • Blueboy (1980)
  • King Comus, 2007 (published posthumously in November 2017)

Films

Assistant Director

  • Europe '51 (1952)

Screenwriter

Actor

  • Anna's Sin (1953)
  • Seven Deadly Sins, "L'invidia" (1952)
    • A French/Italian co-production covering the seven deadly sins.  Two episodes from Italy, and five from France, the series also covers an eighth sin: eighth unknown sin. The series is introduced and sometimes narrated by a carnival barker named Gerald Philipe.

Translator

  • L'occhio selvaggio, (1967)

See also

References
  1. "William Demby, Author of Experimental Novels, Dies at 90". The New York Times. May 31, 2013.
  2. "Demby, William | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  3. "Demby, William | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  4. "Demby, William | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved November 12, 2020.
  5. "King Comus: Rediscovered Novel Of The Year". HuffPost. December 14, 2017.
  6. Yardley, William (May 31, 2013). "William Demby, Author of Experimental Novels, Dies at 90 (Published 2013)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
  7. Yardley, William (May 31, 2013). "William Demby, Author of Experimental Novels, Dies at 90 (Published 2013)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 5, 2020.
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