Spring Break
Capturing a legacy
Pulitzer-prize-winning former professor memorialized today
By: Kendra Kingsley
Issue date: 10/12/04 Section: Aggielife
But the play, which was the first off-Broadway drama to win the Pulitzer Prize, was a bittersweet victory.
"When Charles won the Pulitzer, he said he was the right messenger at the wrong time," Susan said. "It was a time when black nationalists were coming up, but racism in America still existed. Charles - at the height of his effort - literally had no place to be."
That position was a familiar one for her husband.
"For his whole life, he had known that racial quandary had caused him to have no place to be. Every time he won an award, he would come up against the same thing - accolades, but no privileges," Susan said. "He was always labeled 'the first African American to win a Pulitzer,' which was patronizing to him because he felt that being a man of color was equally as important as the award itself."
Walker agrees.
"I always said Charles Gordone did more for the Pulitzer than the Pulitzer ever did for Charles Gordone," he said. "Putting that 'first African American' label on his prize only reflected how limited the American theater had been up until that point, not how limited African Americans had been."
More than 10 years after winning the Pulitzer, Gordone headed west to Los Angeles, Calif., where he met Susan. There, across the street from UCLA, they began collaborating on a multicultural theater. For three years, they turned the community stage into a melting pot of talent and brought John Steinbeck, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams to the inner city. In 1985, the theater's lease ended and Charles returned to New York City to work on his latest play - a Western that followed the life of a man who was tired of city life and moved to the country to find himself. By the end of the next year, he missed the woman who had shared his passion for a multicultural theater, and he asked Susan to marry him. But Susan, who accepted his proposal, had different plans for her husband's work.
"I told Charles that if he wanted to write a play about living in the country, he needed to go there," she said. "Throughout his life, he was living city, but singing and writing country."
"When Charles won the Pulitzer, he said he was the right messenger at the wrong time," Susan said. "It was a time when black nationalists were coming up, but racism in America still existed. Charles - at the height of his effort - literally had no place to be."
That position was a familiar one for her husband.
"For his whole life, he had known that racial quandary had caused him to have no place to be. Every time he won an award, he would come up against the same thing - accolades, but no privileges," Susan said. "He was always labeled 'the first African American to win a Pulitzer,' which was patronizing to him because he felt that being a man of color was equally as important as the award itself."
Walker agrees.
"I always said Charles Gordone did more for the Pulitzer than the Pulitzer ever did for Charles Gordone," he said. "Putting that 'first African American' label on his prize only reflected how limited the American theater had been up until that point, not how limited African Americans had been."
More than 10 years after winning the Pulitzer, Gordone headed west to Los Angeles, Calif., where he met Susan. There, across the street from UCLA, they began collaborating on a multicultural theater. For three years, they turned the community stage into a melting pot of talent and brought John Steinbeck, Arthur Miller and Tennessee Williams to the inner city. In 1985, the theater's lease ended and Charles returned to New York City to work on his latest play - a Western that followed the life of a man who was tired of city life and moved to the country to find himself. By the end of the next year, he missed the woman who had shared his passion for a multicultural theater, and he asked Susan to marry him. But Susan, who accepted his proposal, had different plans for her husband's work.
"I told Charles that if he wanted to write a play about living in the country, he needed to go there," she said. "Throughout his life, he was living city, but singing and writing country."
Be sure to include your name, major, and class year. Submissions without this information are subject to deletion.
By submitting a comment, you agree to thebatt.com's Terms of Use.
You may also send a Mail Call to The Battalion at mailcall@thebatt.com