Coleman Dowell
Encyclopedia
Robert Coleman Dowell was an American writer.
on May 29, 1925. Dowell attended several country schools, among them, a one room school where Latin
and Greek
were taught. His last two years of high school were at Simpson County High in Franklin, Kentucky
, a new county school where he was on the school paper. Dowell served in the U.S. Army, Medical Corps from 1944–45 and as an assistant to the prosecution in war crimes trials in Manila
in 1945-46. He was eventually promoted to the rank of sergeant. During this period he also attended the University of the Philippines
. Dowell returned home to the U.S. in 1946 and settled in Louisville, Kentucky
for a few years where he was a full-time member of the National Guard. Here, he wrote the musical play that brought him to New York City
Dowell moved to New York in 1950, initially finding work as a model for automobile and airline ads and as a typist. From 1950-53 Dowell was employed as a song writer and lyricist for the Dumont television show, Once Upon a Tune
, which starred Bea Arthur, Elaine Stritch
, Alice Ghostley
, and Charlotte Rae
. Dowell composed nearly 1,000 works for weekly broadcast. He also worked as David Merrick
's protege and with John LaTouche on the abortive Broadway musical version of Eugene O'Neill
's Ah, Wilderness!. 1957 was a pivotal year for Dowell. It was in January of this year that he managed to meet Carl Van Vechten
, author of The Tattooed Countess. Dowell wanted permission to attempt to adapt the piece to the musical stage. He played for Van Vechten selections from a score for The Tattooed Countess and won Van Vechten's approval for the rights. Carl Van Vechten was known to his friends as "Carlo." His career included stints as a music critic for The New York Times
, as a novelist during the 1920s, and as a photographer for which he never sought nor received payment. He photographed many of the major figures in the arts world. His wife was Fania Marinoff, a retired actress. Van Vechten introduced Dowell into his circle of friends which included many celebrities: Isak Dinesen, Langston Hughes
, Leontyne Price
, Geoffrey Holder
, Gloria Vanderbilt
, Sidney Lumet
, Eileen Herlie
, Kim Hunter
, Barbra Streisand
, Dianne Carroll, Pearl Bailey
, Anthony Armstrong Jones, Tallulah Bankhead
, Luise Rainer, Laurence Olivier
, Gertrude Stein
, the Gish sisters, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, George Kaufman, Noel Coward
, and Maurice Sendak
, among others.
The Tattooed Countess, which opened in 1961, was panned by the critics and closed within a few days. Dowell, who had written the book, score and lyrics, tried his luck with another theatrical experiment, Eve of the Green Grass. This play was presented at the Chelsea Art Theatre in 1965 and starred Kim Hunter
. Seeing his play on the stage, Dowell concluded that the theatre was not his metier and turned his attention to writing novels. This was done without the mourning that the failure of The Tattooed Countess had induced. Dowell's early experiences in the theatre were used in two magazine articles, At Home with Drosselmeier and A Handful of Anomalies which were published in Bomb Magazine
in 1984 and 1985, respectively. His theatrical career was also included in his unfinished autobiography, A Dark Book, which was published by The Dalkey Archive Press in June 1993 under the title of A Star-bright Lie.
Dowell had found only disillusionment in the theater. He decided to seek his fortune as a writer of fiction. Dowell had already experienced some success in writing fiction. His short story, 'Alter Frau im Garten' had been published in 1962. Over a fifteen period Dowell wrote five novels: One of the Children is Crying (1968), Mrs. October was Here (1974), Island People (1976), Too Much Flesh and Jabez (1977), and White on Black on White (1983). Remarkably, the first four novels had been written concurrently. These novels were intricate both in concept and in form. It was during this period that Dowell enjoyed the critical praise and friendship of such noted authors as Walter Abish
, Thom Gunn
, John Hawkes, Ann Lauterbach
, Gilbert Sorrentino
, Maurice Sendak
, Edmund White
, and Tennessee Williams
.
Dowell was talented and he yearned to be famous. He very much needed a popular readership. One of the Children is Crying, one of his most accessible books, was widely reviewed, with reviews appearing in Boston, Denver, Hollywood, Houston, Louisville, Milwaukee, Sacramento, and Tulsa. Since One of the Children is Crying had been published earlier in England under the title, The Grass Dies, reviews also appeared in England and Ireland. Surprisingly, reviews for Dowell's second novel, Mrs. October was Here, were meager and from rather obscure sources. Nevertheless, this novel was always mentioned as being Dowell's favorite. Island People was a favorite with all critics and other authors. It was called Dowell's masterpiece. Supporters of this novel included Tennessee Williams, Gilbert Sorrentino, Ihab Hassan, and Walter Abish, but reviews were still not as plentiful as had been the case with his first novel. The New York Times called it "a work of art" and brought Dowell some national attention. Too Much Flesh and Jabez was the least reviewed of Dowell's novels. The New York Times, nevertheless, called it "a tour de force." White on Black on White received many, but mixed, reviews. Dowell was given a tribute before the publication of his last novel in the Fall 1982 issue of The Review of Contemporary Fiction. This issue, called the Paul Bowles-Coleman Dowell number, contains the major critical articles on Dowell which had appeared up to this date. Throughout the 1970s, Dowell maintained a working relationship with critic and author, Richard Lebherz. Lebherz encouraged Dowell's literary ambitions.
Dowell received critical praise from the leading authors and critics of his day. Reviewers often cited the complexity of his style, but, as Edmund White wrote in a 1976 New York Times review of "Island People", "Once inside the book, the reader encounters teeming, charged emotions dark and restive with pain." He never received the popular support he so desperately needed. His later years were plagued by ill health. Although there were good times, Dowell could not escape feelings of disillusionment, suicide, or as he put it, "the balcony beckons me." In the early morning hours on Saturday August 3, 1985, Dowell, reportedly despondent, leapt from his 15th floor apartment balcony overlooking Fifth Avenue. As is the case with so many other writers or artists, the attention focused on Coleman Dowell accelerated after his death. In 1987, The Houses of Children: Collected Stories was published by Weidenfeld and Nicholson and this publishing company also reissued One of the Children is Crying. Too Much Flesh and Jabez was also made available via the Dalkey Archive Press
.
Three major works by Dowell were left unfinished. These include Eve of the Green Grass, a novel; Dowell's autobiography entitled, A Dark Book and his private journal 1968-1984 which is a running diary of his life, writings, attitude towards people, and also includes personal observations for stories. Two excerpts from A Dark Book had been published earlier in Bomb magazine under the titles: At Home with Drosselmeier (#10, Fall 1984) and A Handful of Anomalies (#13, Fall 1985). These deal with Dowell's early adventures in New York City and his relationship with Carl Van Vechten, as well as his early theatrical career.
Dowell was given a final tribute at his apartment on November 3, 1985. A large number of famous personalities representing the worlds of dance, art, literature, music, theater, and education toasted their friend and praised his accomplishments as a gifted composer, poet, playwright, novelist, and critic.
A generous donation from an anonymous donor established the Coleman Dowell Series at Dalkey Archive Press. The donor's contribution enables the Dalkey Press to publish one book a year in this series.
He was a gay
man.
Published in The English quarterly, Ambit
Published by Conjunctions
Biography
He was born to Mordon and Beulah Dowell in Adairville, KentuckyAdairville, Kentucky
Adairville is a city in Logan County, Kentucky, United States. The population was 920 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Adairville is located at ....
on May 29, 1925. Dowell attended several country schools, among them, a one room school where Latin
Latin
Latin is an Italic language originally spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. It, along with most European languages, is a descendant of the ancient Proto-Indo-European language. Although it is considered a dead language, a number of scholars and members of the Christian clergy speak it fluently, and...
and Greek
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
were taught. His last two years of high school were at Simpson County High in Franklin, Kentucky
Franklin, Kentucky
As of the census of 2000, there were 7,996 people, 3,251 households, and 2,174 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,074.7 people per square mile . There were 3,609 housing units at an average density of 485.1 per square mile...
, a new county school where he was on the school paper. Dowell served in the U.S. Army, Medical Corps from 1944–45 and as an assistant to the prosecution in war crimes trials in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
in 1945-46. He was eventually promoted to the rank of sergeant. During this period he also attended the University of the Philippines
University of the Philippines
The ' is the national university of the Philippines. Founded in 1908 through Act No...
. Dowell returned home to the U.S. in 1946 and settled in Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville, Kentucky
Louisville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Kentucky, and the county seat of Jefferson County. Since 2003, the city's borders have been coterminous with those of the county because of a city-county merger. The city's population at the 2010 census was 741,096...
for a few years where he was a full-time member of the National Guard. Here, he wrote the musical play that brought him to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Dowell moved to New York in 1950, initially finding work as a model for automobile and airline ads and as a typist. From 1950-53 Dowell was employed as a song writer and lyricist for the Dumont television show, Once Upon a Tune
Once Upon a Tune
Once Upon a Tune is a weekly half-hour American television series that aired on the DuMont Television Network, premiering on March 6, 1951 and running to May 15, 1951...
, which starred Bea Arthur, Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch
Elaine Stritch is an American actress and vocalist. She has appeared in numerous stage plays and musicals, feature films, and many television programs...
, Alice Ghostley
Alice Ghostley
Alice Margaret Ghostley was an American actress. She was best known for her roles as housekeeper Esmeralda on Bewitched, as Cousin Alice on Mayberry R.F.D., and as Bernice Clifton on Designing Women, for which she received an Emmy Nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series in 1992...
, and Charlotte Rae
Charlotte Rae
Charlotte Rae is a prolific American character actress of stage, comedienne, singer and dancer, who in her six decades of television is perhaps best known for her portrayal of Edna Garrett in the sitcoms Diff'rent Strokes and The Facts of Life...
. Dowell composed nearly 1,000 works for weekly broadcast. He also worked as David Merrick
David Merrick
David Merrick was a prolific Tony Award-winning American theatrical producer.-Life and career:Born David Lee Margulois to Jewish parents in St. Louis, Missouri, Merrick graduated from Washington University, then studied law at the Jesuit-run Saint Louis University School of Law...
's protege and with John LaTouche on the abortive Broadway musical version of Eugene O'Neill
Eugene O'Neill
Eugene Gladstone O'Neill was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into American drama techniques of realism earlier associated with Russian playwright Anton Chekhov, Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, and Swedish...
's Ah, Wilderness!. 1957 was a pivotal year for Dowell. It was in January of this year that he managed to meet Carl Van Vechten
Carl van Vechten
Carl Van Vechten was an American writer and photographer who was a patron of the Harlem Renaissance and the literary executor of Gertrude Stein.-Biography:...
, author of The Tattooed Countess. Dowell wanted permission to attempt to adapt the piece to the musical stage. He played for Van Vechten selections from a score for The Tattooed Countess and won Van Vechten's approval for the rights. Carl Van Vechten was known to his friends as "Carlo." His career included stints as a music critic for The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
, as a novelist during the 1920s, and as a photographer for which he never sought nor received payment. He photographed many of the major figures in the arts world. His wife was Fania Marinoff, a retired actress. Van Vechten introduced Dowell into his circle of friends which included many celebrities: Isak Dinesen, Langston Hughes
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist. He was one of the earliest innovators of the then-new literary art form jazz poetry. Hughes is best known for his work during the Harlem Renaissance...
, Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price
Mary Violet Leontyne Price is an American soprano. Born and raised in the Deep South, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was one of the first African Americans to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan Opera.One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant",...
, Geoffrey Holder
Geoffrey Holder
Geoffrey Richard Holder is a Trinidadian actor, choreographer, director, dancer, painter, costume designer, singer and voice-over artist.-Early life:...
, Gloria Vanderbilt
Gloria Vanderbilt
Gloria Laura Vanderbilt is an American artist, author, actress, heiress, and socialite most noted as an early developer of designer blue jeans...
, Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet
Sidney Lumet was an American director, producer and screenwriter with over 50 films to his credit. He was nominated for the Academy Award as Best Director for 12 Angry Men , Dog Day Afternoon , Network and The Verdict...
, Eileen Herlie
Eileen Herlie
Eileen Herlie was a Scottish-American actress.-Life and career:Eileen Herlie was born Eileen Isobel Herlihy to a Catholic father and a Protestant mother in Glasgow, Scotland, and was one of five children. Herlie was trained as a theatre actress. Among her West End London theatre successes were The...
, Kim Hunter
Kim Hunter
Kim Hunter was an American film, theatre, and television actress. She won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, each as Best Supporting Actress, for her performance as Stella Kowalski in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire...
, Barbra Streisand
Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand is an American singer, actress, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, four Emmy Awards, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy,...
, Dianne Carroll, Pearl Bailey
Pearl Bailey
Pearl Mae Bailey was an American actress and singer. After appearing in vaudeville, she made her Broadway debut in St. Louis Woman in 1946. She won a Tony Award for the title role in the all-black production of Hello, Dolly! in 1968...
, Anthony Armstrong Jones, Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Bankhead
Tallulah Brockman Bankhead was an award-winning American actress of the stage and screen, talk-show host, and bonne vivante...
, Luise Rainer, Laurence Olivier
Laurence Olivier
Laurence Kerr Olivier, Baron Olivier, OM was an English actor, director, and producer. He was one of the most famous and revered actors of the 20th century. He married three times, to fellow actors Jill Esmond, Vivien Leigh, and Joan Plowright...
, Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
, the Gish sisters, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor, George Kaufman, Noel Coward
Noël Coward
Sir Noël Peirce Coward was an English playwright, composer, director, actor and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what Time magazine called "a sense of personal style, a combination of cheek and chic, pose and poise".Born in Teddington, a suburb of London, Coward attended a dance academy...
, and Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak
Maurice Bernard Sendak is an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. He is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963.-Early life:...
, among others.
The Tattooed Countess, which opened in 1961, was panned by the critics and closed within a few days. Dowell, who had written the book, score and lyrics, tried his luck with another theatrical experiment, Eve of the Green Grass. This play was presented at the Chelsea Art Theatre in 1965 and starred Kim Hunter
Kim Hunter
Kim Hunter was an American film, theatre, and television actress. She won both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award, each as Best Supporting Actress, for her performance as Stella Kowalski in the 1951 film A Streetcar Named Desire...
. Seeing his play on the stage, Dowell concluded that the theatre was not his metier and turned his attention to writing novels. This was done without the mourning that the failure of The Tattooed Countess had induced. Dowell's early experiences in the theatre were used in two magazine articles, At Home with Drosselmeier and A Handful of Anomalies which were published in Bomb Magazine
Bomb Magazine
BOMB is a quarterly magazine edited by artists and writers. It is composed, primarily, of interviews between creative people working in a variety of disciplines — visual art, literature, music, film, theater and architecture....
in 1984 and 1985, respectively. His theatrical career was also included in his unfinished autobiography, A Dark Book, which was published by The Dalkey Archive Press in June 1993 under the title of A Star-bright Lie.
Dowell had found only disillusionment in the theater. He decided to seek his fortune as a writer of fiction. Dowell had already experienced some success in writing fiction. His short story, 'Alter Frau im Garten' had been published in 1962. Over a fifteen period Dowell wrote five novels: One of the Children is Crying (1968), Mrs. October was Here (1974), Island People (1976), Too Much Flesh and Jabez (1977), and White on Black on White (1983). Remarkably, the first four novels had been written concurrently. These novels were intricate both in concept and in form. It was during this period that Dowell enjoyed the critical praise and friendship of such noted authors as Walter Abish
Walter Abish
Walter Abish is an Austrian-American author of experimental novels and short stories.-Biography:Abish was born in Vienna, Austria to Adolph and Frieda . At a young age, his family fled from the Nazis, traveling first to Italy and Nice before settling in Shanghai from 1940 to 1949...
, Thom Gunn
Thom Gunn
Thom Gunn, born Thomson William Gunn , was an Anglo-American poet who was praised both for his early verses in England, where he was associated with The Movement and his later poetry in America, even after moving toward a looser, free-verse style...
, John Hawkes, Ann Lauterbach
Ann Lauterbach
Ann Lauterbach is an American poet, essayist, and professor. Her most recent poetry collection is Or to Begin Again , a 2009 National Book Award finalist. Her other honors include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the Ingram Merrill Foundation, the John D. and Catherine C. MacArthur...
, Gilbert Sorrentino
Gilbert Sorrentino
Gilbert Sorrentino was an American novelist, short story writer, poet, literary critic, and editor.In over twenty-five works of fiction and poetry, Sorrentino explored the comic and formal possibilities of language and literature...
, Maurice Sendak
Maurice Sendak
Maurice Bernard Sendak is an American writer and illustrator of children's literature. He is best known for his book Where the Wild Things Are, published in 1963.-Early life:...
, Edmund White
Edmund White
Edmund Valentine White III is an American author and literary critic. He is a member of the faculty of Princeton University's Program in Creative Writing.- Life and work :...
, and Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier "Tennessee" Williams III was an American writer who worked principally as a playwright in the American theater. He also wrote short stories, novels, poetry, essays, screenplays and a volume of memoirs...
.
Dowell was talented and he yearned to be famous. He very much needed a popular readership. One of the Children is Crying, one of his most accessible books, was widely reviewed, with reviews appearing in Boston, Denver, Hollywood, Houston, Louisville, Milwaukee, Sacramento, and Tulsa. Since One of the Children is Crying had been published earlier in England under the title, The Grass Dies, reviews also appeared in England and Ireland. Surprisingly, reviews for Dowell's second novel, Mrs. October was Here, were meager and from rather obscure sources. Nevertheless, this novel was always mentioned as being Dowell's favorite. Island People was a favorite with all critics and other authors. It was called Dowell's masterpiece. Supporters of this novel included Tennessee Williams, Gilbert Sorrentino, Ihab Hassan, and Walter Abish, but reviews were still not as plentiful as had been the case with his first novel. The New York Times called it "a work of art" and brought Dowell some national attention. Too Much Flesh and Jabez was the least reviewed of Dowell's novels. The New York Times, nevertheless, called it "a tour de force." White on Black on White received many, but mixed, reviews. Dowell was given a tribute before the publication of his last novel in the Fall 1982 issue of The Review of Contemporary Fiction. This issue, called the Paul Bowles-Coleman Dowell number, contains the major critical articles on Dowell which had appeared up to this date. Throughout the 1970s, Dowell maintained a working relationship with critic and author, Richard Lebherz. Lebherz encouraged Dowell's literary ambitions.
Dowell received critical praise from the leading authors and critics of his day. Reviewers often cited the complexity of his style, but, as Edmund White wrote in a 1976 New York Times review of "Island People", "Once inside the book, the reader encounters teeming, charged emotions dark and restive with pain." He never received the popular support he so desperately needed. His later years were plagued by ill health. Although there were good times, Dowell could not escape feelings of disillusionment, suicide, or as he put it, "the balcony beckons me." In the early morning hours on Saturday August 3, 1985, Dowell, reportedly despondent, leapt from his 15th floor apartment balcony overlooking Fifth Avenue. As is the case with so many other writers or artists, the attention focused on Coleman Dowell accelerated after his death. In 1987, The Houses of Children: Collected Stories was published by Weidenfeld and Nicholson and this publishing company also reissued One of the Children is Crying. Too Much Flesh and Jabez was also made available via the Dalkey Archive Press
Dalkey Archive Press
Dalkey Archive Press is a publisher of fiction, poetry, and literary criticism in Illinois in the United States, specializing in the publication or republication of lesser known, often avant-garde works...
.
Three major works by Dowell were left unfinished. These include Eve of the Green Grass, a novel; Dowell's autobiography entitled, A Dark Book and his private journal 1968-1984 which is a running diary of his life, writings, attitude towards people, and also includes personal observations for stories. Two excerpts from A Dark Book had been published earlier in Bomb magazine under the titles: At Home with Drosselmeier (#10, Fall 1984) and A Handful of Anomalies (#13, Fall 1985). These deal with Dowell's early adventures in New York City and his relationship with Carl Van Vechten, as well as his early theatrical career.
Dowell was given a final tribute at his apartment on November 3, 1985. A large number of famous personalities representing the worlds of dance, art, literature, music, theater, and education toasted their friend and praised his accomplishments as a gifted composer, poet, playwright, novelist, and critic.
A generous donation from an anonymous donor established the Coleman Dowell Series at Dalkey Archive Press. The donor's contribution enables the Dalkey Press to publish one book a year in this series.
He was a gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
man.
Short Fiction Works
Published in New Directions, An Anthology of Prose and Poetry- "The Keepsake" (#26, 1973)
- "The Birthmark" (#27, 1973)
- "I Envy You Your Adventure" (#28, 1974)
- "First Person Biography" (#29, 1974)
- "Victor: (#30, 1975)
- "If Beggars were Horses" (#31, 1975)
- "Singing in the Clump" (#32, 1976)
- "The Moon, the Owl, my Sister" (#33, 1976)
- "Ham's Gift" (#35, 1977)
- "My Father was a River" (#36, 1978)
Published in The English quarterly, Ambit
- "I am the Beast" (#61, 1975)
- "The Drought Ends" (#65, 1976)
- "Her Good Man Gone" (#69, 1977)
- "A Lifetime Proposition" (#73, 1978)
- "Patridge House" (#76, 1978)
- "The Snake House" (#79, 1979)
- "The Silver Swanne" (#89, 1980)
- "Person Waiting" (#94, 1983)
- "Kitty" (#100, 1985)
Published by Conjunctions
- "The Great Godalmighty Bird" (#4, 1983)
- "Eve of the Green Grass" (novel excerpt) (#6, 1984)
- "Writings on a Cave Wall" (#8, 1985)