Capote, Truman: 1924 - 1984
Reminiscences
- If you have any (personal) information about Truman Capote, please get in contact with SwissEduc.
- Young Truman Capote Is Making Friends, by A.B. Blass, one of Capote's boyhood friends
- We would all play baseball between the drug store and another store. There was a large lot there back then. The first time I saw Truman Capote, he was driven up in a limousine by a black chauffeur. He got out of the car, and he was a little older than me but smaller. He asked if he could play ball, but we said,'No, you can't play.' He said,'Would you like a treat?' We asked,'At the drug store?' He answered,'Sure.' We said,'Fine.' So he carried us to the drug store (about 7 of us) and we sat on the stools and he said we could buy anything we wanted and told the druggist,'Charge it to my mamma.' After that, Truman was readily accepted on the team and played with us.
Courtesy of The Monroe County Heritage Museums. This article appeared in the book "Monroeville, The Search for Harper Lee's Maycomb", 1999
- We would all play baseball between the drug store and another store. There was a large lot there back then. The first time I saw Truman Capote, he was driven up in a limousine by a black chauffeur. He got out of the car, and he was a little older than me but smaller. He asked if he could play ball, but we said,'No, you can't play.' He said,'Would you like a treat?' We asked,'At the drug store?' He answered,'Sure.' We said,'Fine.' So he carried us to the drug store (about 7 of us) and we sat on the stools and he said we could buy anything we wanted and told the druggist,'Charge it to my mamma.' After that, Truman was readily accepted on the team and played with us.
- Young Truman Capote Gets Help from Harper Lee, by George Thomas Jones, one of Capote's boyhood friends
- There is an interesting story relating to the old elementary school playground involving both Harper Lee and Truman Capote when he was in about second grade. In one corner of the playground was a large sand bed where the older boys played a "game" which they called: "Hot grease in the kitchen." They would surround the sandy area and direct all male students to detour around. When they refused and entered the sand bed, the older boys would jump on them and sling them to the ground. One day as young Truman Capote approached, being the little smart ass he always was, he defied the group and attempted to walk through. Of course, he was immediately wrestled to the ground and not allowed to get up. That is until Harper Lee came along. She walked in, pushed the older boys aside, and escorted young Truman to safety, all the while daring the older boys to intervene. Knowing Harper's affinity for fighting, she was not challenged.
From a letter SwissEduc received from Mr. Jones, December 7, 1999
- There is an interesting story relating to the old elementary school playground involving both Harper Lee and Truman Capote when he was in about second grade. In one corner of the playground was a large sand bed where the older boys played a "game" which they called: "Hot grease in the kitchen." They would surround the sandy area and direct all male students to detour around. When they refused and entered the sand bed, the older boys would jump on them and sling them to the ground. One day as young Truman Capote approached, being the little smart ass he always was, he defied the group and attempted to walk through. Of course, he was immediately wrestled to the ground and not allowed to get up. That is until Harper Lee came along. She walked in, pushed the older boys aside, and escorted young Truman to safety, all the while daring the older boys to intervene. Knowing Harper's affinity for fighting, she was not challenged.
- James Thurber and Truman Capote
- "Recently I told others at the office about a scandalous, funny story Truman Capote had told me about Thurber," my father continued, "and aroused Thurber's undying ire. Thurber doesn't really have a sense of humor about himself."
...
"Thurber treated Truman like an office boy, asking him to do the most degrading things. Thurber is virtually blind. He would have assignations with women in the afternoon, right here in this hotel, and then call Truman over to help him get dressed. One day, Truman, in dressing him, reversed his socks so Thurber's wife would know that he had been undressing during the day."Michael Gill: How Starbucks Saved My Life, New York, 2007
- "Recently I told others at the office about a scandalous, funny story Truman Capote had told me about Thurber," my father continued, "and aroused Thurber's undying ire. Thurber doesn't really have a sense of humor about himself."