Lorene Cary
Encyclopedia
Lorene Cary is an American author, educator, and social activist.
in New Hampshire
, on scholarship, as only the second African-American female student. She spent two years at St. Paul's, graduating in 1974, and then received her MA degree from the University of Pennsylvania
in 1978. A Thouron Fellowship gave her the chance to study at the Sussex University in the United Kingdom, where she received a master of arts in Victorian literature. In addition to these degrees, Cary has been awarded honorary doctorates from Colby College
, Keene State College
, and Chestnut Hill College
. After finishing college, Cary worked in publishing for several magazines, including Time, TV Guide, and Newsweek. She also worked as a freelance writer for Essence, American Visions, Mirabella, Obsidian, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. In 1982, Cary returned to St. Paul's, this time as a teacher. She is currently a senior lecturer in creative writing
at the University of Pennsylvania.
, which was published in 1991 by Alfred A. Knopf
. Phillip Lopate
, reviewing the book for The New York Times
called it a "stunning memoir". The book, "bruisingly honest about class, race and sex in America", found success with the critics and was shortlisted the same year by The New York Times as "summer reading"; her first publication, it was republished the next year by Vintage Books
.
In 1995, Cary published her first novel, The Price of a Child. Based on a true story and set in 1855, the novel tells the story of Ginnie Pryor, a slave from a Virginia plantation who is bought by the US Ambassador to Nicaragua. En route with her new owner to New York City, she escapes via the Underground Railroad
and attempts to build a new life in Philadelphia. Fernanda Eberstadt
, reviewing the novel in The New York Times, commented that Cary "is a powerful storyteller, frankly sensual, mortally funny, gifted with an ear for the pounce and ragged inconsequentiality of real speech and an eye for the shifts and subterfuges by which ordinary people get by".
In 1998, she published a second novel, Pride, which describes the experiences of four contemporary black middle-class women. Cary’s first Young Adult book, FREE!, a collection of non-fiction Underground Railroad stories as compelling as the history they chronicle, was published by Third World Press/New City Press in 2005. Cary says that she believes these twelve stories of ingenious and daring escapes 'allow our 21st-century minds to imagine actively the inner lives of enslaved people – and put ourselves in their places, not with shame, but compassion and respect.'
Cary also wrote the script for the videos in "The President's House: Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation", a 2010 exhibition in The President's House in Philadelphia.
On April 19, Cary releases her third novel If Sons, Then Heirs. In it, Cary tells a complex story of family, race, and the challenges of reconciling the present with a persistent past. Alonzo Rayne was raised in South Carolina by his great-grandmother, Selma. Now he owns a construction business in Philadelphia and lives with Lillie, a single mom, and her seven-year-old son, Khalil. As the story begins, Khalil accompanies Alonzo to South Carolina where Alonzo urges the aging Selma to sell her land so they can pay for her long-term care. But she hasn't owned the land since King, her husband, died almost 50 years ago; Selma was King's second wife, not an heir, and this unforeseen fact, combined with ancient, racist inheritance laws, makes for a sticky situation. And Alonzo's mother suddenly wanting to reconnect after years of abandonment further complicates matters; her marriage to the white man she met after abandoning her son turned her life around. Finally, Alonzo's investigation into his great-grandmother's land puts him on a collision course with the men who brought about his great-grandfather's violent end. Cary (Black Ice) pairs generations of loving, and loyal individuals with social history, making for an absorbing and moving tale.
Says Carleen Brice, author of Orange Mint and Honey and Children of the Waters, “Every single character pops off the page in this amazing story. This masterwork of a novel made me laugh and cry out loud. Important, enjoyable, and wonderfully moving. An absolute delight.”
Biography
Cary grew up in a working-class neighborhood in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1972, she was invited to the "elite" St. Paul's boarding schoolSt. Paul's School (Concord, New Hampshire)
St. Paul's School is a highly selective college-preparatory, coeducational boarding school in Concord, New Hampshire affiliated with the Episcopal Church. The school is one of only six remaining 100% residential boarding schools in the U.S. The New Hampshire campus currently serves 533 students,...
in New Hampshire
New Hampshire
New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...
, on scholarship, as only the second African-American female student. She spent two years at St. Paul's, graduating in 1974, and then received her MA degree from the University of Pennsylvania
University of Pennsylvania
The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...
in 1978. A Thouron Fellowship gave her the chance to study at the Sussex University in the United Kingdom, where she received a master of arts in Victorian literature. In addition to these degrees, Cary has been awarded honorary doctorates from Colby College
Colby College
Colby College is a private liberal arts college located on Mayflower Hill in Waterville, Maine. Founded in 1813, it is the 12th-oldest independent liberal arts college in the United States...
, Keene State College
Keene State College
Keene State College is a liberal arts college in Keene, New Hampshire. It is a member of the University System of New Hampshire and of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges....
, and Chestnut Hill College
Chestnut Hill College
Chestnut Hill College is a coeducational Roman Catholic college in the Chestnut Hill section of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. It was founded in 1924 as a women's college by the Sisters of St. Joseph. It was originally called Mount Saint Joseph College and assumed its current name in 1938. In...
. After finishing college, Cary worked in publishing for several magazines, including Time, TV Guide, and Newsweek. She also worked as a freelance writer for Essence, American Visions, Mirabella, Obsidian, and the Philadelphia Inquirer. In 1982, Cary returned to St. Paul's, this time as a teacher. She is currently a senior lecturer in creative writing
Creative writing
Creative writing is considered to be any writing, fiction, poetry, or non-fiction, that goes outside the bounds of normal professional, journalistic, academic, and technical forms of literature. Works which fall into this category include novels, epics, short stories, and poems...
at the University of Pennsylvania.
Literary career
After first writing about her experience at St. Paul's in a magazine article in 1988, she published a memoir, Black IceBlack Ice (memoir)
Black Ice is a memoir by American author Lorene Cary. First published in 1991, it relates the African American author's experiences at the elite St. Paul's boarding school in New Hampshire...
, which was published in 1991 by Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. is a New York publishing house, founded by Alfred A. Knopf, Sr. in 1915. It was acquired by Random House in 1960 and is now part of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group at Random House. The publishing house is known for its borzoi trademark , which was designed by co-founder...
. Phillip Lopate
Phillip Lopate
Doctor Phillip Lopate is an American film critic, essayist, fiction writer, poet, and teacher. He is the younger brother of radio host Leonard Lopate.-Early life and education:...
, reviewing the book 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...
called it a "stunning memoir". The book, "bruisingly honest about class, race and sex in America", found success with the critics and was shortlisted the same year by The New York Times as "summer reading"; her first publication, it was republished the next year by Vintage Books
Vintage Books
Vintage Books is a publishing imprint founded in 1954 by Alfred A. Knopf. Its publishing list includes world literature, fiction, and non-fiction...
.
In 1995, Cary published her first novel, The Price of a Child. Based on a true story and set in 1855, the novel tells the story of Ginnie Pryor, a slave from a Virginia plantation who is bought by the US Ambassador to Nicaragua. En route with her new owner to New York City, she escapes via the Underground Railroad
Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad was an informal network of secret routes and safe houses used by 19th-century black slaves in the United States to escape to free states and Canada with the aid of abolitionists and allies who were sympathetic to their cause. The term is also applied to the abolitionists,...
and attempts to build a new life in Philadelphia. Fernanda Eberstadt
Fernanda Eberstadt
Fernanda Eberstadt is an American writer.-Early life:She is the daughter of two patrons of New York City's avant-garde, Frederick Eberstadt, a photographer and psychotherapist, and Isabel Eberstadt, a writer...
, reviewing the novel in The New York Times, commented that Cary "is a powerful storyteller, frankly sensual, mortally funny, gifted with an ear for the pounce and ragged inconsequentiality of real speech and an eye for the shifts and subterfuges by which ordinary people get by".
In 1998, she published a second novel, Pride, which describes the experiences of four contemporary black middle-class women. Cary’s first Young Adult book, FREE!, a collection of non-fiction Underground Railroad stories as compelling as the history they chronicle, was published by Third World Press/New City Press in 2005. Cary says that she believes these twelve stories of ingenious and daring escapes 'allow our 21st-century minds to imagine actively the inner lives of enslaved people – and put ourselves in their places, not with shame, but compassion and respect.'
Cary also wrote the script for the videos in "The President's House: Freedom and Slavery in the Making of a New Nation", a 2010 exhibition in The President's House in Philadelphia.
On April 19, Cary releases her third novel If Sons, Then Heirs. In it, Cary tells a complex story of family, race, and the challenges of reconciling the present with a persistent past. Alonzo Rayne was raised in South Carolina by his great-grandmother, Selma. Now he owns a construction business in Philadelphia and lives with Lillie, a single mom, and her seven-year-old son, Khalil. As the story begins, Khalil accompanies Alonzo to South Carolina where Alonzo urges the aging Selma to sell her land so they can pay for her long-term care. But she hasn't owned the land since King, her husband, died almost 50 years ago; Selma was King's second wife, not an heir, and this unforeseen fact, combined with ancient, racist inheritance laws, makes for a sticky situation. And Alonzo's mother suddenly wanting to reconnect after years of abandonment further complicates matters; her marriage to the white man she met after abandoning her son turned her life around. Finally, Alonzo's investigation into his great-grandmother's land puts him on a collision course with the men who brought about his great-grandfather's violent end. Cary (Black Ice) pairs generations of loving, and loyal individuals with social history, making for an absorbing and moving tale.
Says Carleen Brice, author of Orange Mint and Honey and Children of the Waters, “Every single character pops off the page in this amazing story. This masterwork of a novel made me laugh and cry out loud. Important, enjoyable, and wonderfully moving. An absolute delight.”
Art Sanctuary
In 1998 Cary founded Art Sanctuary, an African-American arts and letters organization devoted to presenting regional and national talent in the literary, visual and performing arts. Art Sanctuary annually hosts an African American arts festival, during whichriters discuss their work with up to 1,500–2,000 students, and another 2,000–3,000 people participate in panels, workshops, the basketball tournament, teachers' symposium, Family Pavilion, main stage, and other events.External links
- Lorene Cary's website
- "Roll Up the Light of Love" in O: The Oprah Magazine