Capote, Truman, 1924-1984

BIOGHIST REQUIRED American author.

Truman Capote (1924- ), American author.

Truman Capote is an American writer.

Author, born Truman Streckfus Persons in New Orleans on September 24, 1924. Capote's major works include Other Voices, Other Rooms; Breakfast At Tiffany's; and In Cold Blood. He died on August 25, 1984.

American author.

Author and dramatist.

Biographical Note

Truman Capote was born Truman Streckfus Persons in New Orleans on September 24, 1924, the son of Archulus Persons and Lillie Mae Faulk. After his parents' divorce Capote was sent to live with relatives in rural Alabama. During that childhood stay in Alabama, Capote developed an abiding affection for an elderly cousin, about whom he wrote in A Christmas Memory and The Thanksgiving Visitor . Capote continued to visit the South throughout his childhood, and his experiences there were reflected in many of his books.

In 1935 Truman changed his surname to that of his newly adoptive father, Lillie Mae Faulk's second husband, Joseph Garcia Capote. Capote was then sent to a series of boarding schools in the East before being enrolled at Greenwich High School in Connecticut in 1939. Catherine Wood, and English teacher at Greenwich, recognized Capote's talents and encouraged him in his writing. Capote published short stories and poetry in the school's literary journal, the Green Witch, and wrote for the school paper. Catherine Wood remained a life-long friend and mentor to Capote.

Capote graduated from Franklin High School in New York City and, after a short stint at the New Yorker, he turned to writing full time. While living in Alabama with relatives and later in New Orleans, Capote published several short stories and worked on his first novel, Other Voices, Other Rooms, which was published by Random House in 1948.

Over the next ten years Capote continued to write short stories. He also published travel pieces, journalistic articles, and interviews in the New Yorker and other magazines. In 1958 his second novel, Breakfast at Tiffany's, was published; in 1959 Capote began research on the Clutter family murders in Kansas. This research formed the basis for In Cold Blood, which first appeared serially in the New Yorker (see Box 31) in 1965 and was published as a book later the same year.

In Cold Blood was well received for the most part, but the new genre it embodied, dubbed the "nonfiction novel" by Capote, engendered some controversy. Like Capote's first two books, In Cold Blood was a "best seller." Capote was becoming a personality. He appeared frequently on television, and his social life was noted regularly in the press. While literary critics praised his works, Capote's fame arose in large part from his constant presence in the public eye.

Capote published his last novel, Music for Chameleons, in 1950. During the 1970s Esquire published excerpts from a novel in progress, Answered Prayers, which was still unfinished when Capote died on August 25, 1984.