I’ve been engrossed in the biography of August Wilson, born as Freddie August Wilson, but who changed his name legally as an adult. So I’ve learned reading Patti Hartigan’s newly published August Wilson: a life.
When I sent a quote to a friend earlier this week, he replied “What are you reading?” The quote I’d sent, which was salient for both of us, was:
It was our failure to access our history, and a failure on their part not to hand it on, to preserve cultural values. We missed each other.
Hartigan, page 68.
For four days, I dithered on replying as I considered whether to say to him that I’m reading many books. Or to say that I’m reading many books along with the phrase that I am enthralled with this one, with a picture of the hardcover’s cover.
Then, this morning, I found another quote from the book to share with some friends as the best way for me to remember some gleeful revelations, insights and epiphanies is by quoting a few lines that mesmerize me. And possibly, to motivate one other person to pick up this book. Today’s quote is:
Blacks in America want to forget about slavery—the stigma, the shame. That’s the wrong move.
Hartigan, page 198.
And, I was just about to go tell him which book this was from but I had to check the definition of that feeling of enthralled. I like to stretch my vocabulary and my word usage by calling up words that are lesser heard and lesser spoken. This is one version of wordplay. This is one aspect of Wilson’s biography that I find captivating.
And I was astounded when I read the second definition for enthralled (adjective):
- captivated of charmed
- held in slavery or subjection to some person, group, or thing; subjugated
Maybe it’s the blood’s memory, an intuitive sense of Wilson’s that is a recurring thread throughout Hartigan’s book.
washing dishes: a father’s glimpses 