Sanora Babb
Encyclopedia
Sanora Babb was an American novelist, poet and literary editor. She was also the wife of famed cinematographer James Wong Howe
.
farm settled by her grandfather near Lamar, Colorado
, experiences fictionalized in her novels An Owl on Every Post and The Lost Traveler. Though she did not attend school until she was 11, she managed to graduate from high school as valedictorian. She started, but could not afford to continue, studying at the University of Kansas
, transferring after one year to the Junior College in Garden City, Kansas
. Her first work in journalism was with the Garden City Herald, her articles being re-printed by the Associated Press
. Moving to Los Angeles
, to work for the Los Angeles Times
, the 1929 crash left her impoverished and sometimes homeless in the 1930s, sleeping in Lafayette Park. She eventually found secretarial work with Warner Brothers and was writing scripts for radio station KFWB. She joined the John Reed Club
and was a member of the US Communist Party for 11 years, visiting the Soviet Union
in 1936, but left due to the authoritarian structure and in-fighting. In 1938 she returned to California
to work for the Farm Security Administration
.
Babb kept detailed notes (borrowed at one point by John Steinbeck
) on the tent camps of the Dust Bowl
migrants to California. In the late 1930s Babb began turning this material into a novel, Whose Names Are Unknown. Bennett Cerf
planned to publish the novel with Random House
, but the appearance of John Steinbeck
's The Grapes of Wrath
caused publication to be shelved in 1939. Her novel didn't get published until 2004.
Babb had a long friendship with William Saroyan
starting in 1932 that grew into an unrequited love affair on Saroyan's part, as well as an affair with Ralph Ellison
.
She met her future husband, the Chinese-American cinematographer
James Wong Howe
, before World War II
. They traveled to Paris in 1937 to marry, but their marriage was not recognized by the United States until 1948, after the law banning racial intermarriage
was abolished. Due to the ban, Howe's studio contract "morals clause" prohibited him from publicly acknowledging their marriage. They would not cohabit due to his traditional Chinese views, so they had separate apartments in the same building.
In the early 1940s Babb was West Coast secretary of the League of American Writers
. She edited the literary magazine The Clipper and its successor The California Quarterly, helping to introduce the work of Ray Bradbury
and B. Traven
, as well as running a Chinese restaurant owned by Howe.
During the early years of the HUAC witch-hunts, Babb was blacklisted
, and moved to Mexico City
to protect the "graylisted" Howe from further harassment.
James Wong Howe
James Wong Howe, A.S.C. was a Chinese American cinematographer who worked on over 130 films...
.
Life
Sanora Babb was born in Otoe territory in what is now Oklahoma, though neither parent was Otoe. When she was seven, their father, a professional gambler, moved the family to a one room dugout on a broomcornSorghum
Sorghum is a genus of numerous species of grasses, one of which is raised for grain and many of which are used as fodder plants either cultivated or as part of pasture. The plants are cultivated in warmer climates worldwide. Species are native to tropical and subtropical regions of all continents...
farm settled by her grandfather near Lamar, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, experiences fictionalized in her novels An Owl on Every Post and The Lost Traveler. Though she did not attend school until she was 11, she managed to graduate from high school as valedictorian. She started, but could not afford to continue, studying at the University of Kansas
University of Kansas
The University of Kansas is a public research university and the largest university in the state of Kansas. KU campuses are located in Lawrence, Wichita, Overland Park, and Kansas City, Kansas with the main campus being located in Lawrence on Mount Oread, the highest point in Lawrence. The...
, transferring after one year to the Junior College in Garden City, Kansas
Garden City, Kansas
Garden City is a city in and the county seat of Finney County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 26,658. The city is home to Garden City Community College and the Lee Richardson Zoo, the largest zoological park in western Kansas.-History:In February 1878, James...
. Her first work in journalism was with the Garden City Herald, her articles being re-printed by the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
. Moving to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, to work for the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
, the 1929 crash left her impoverished and sometimes homeless in the 1930s, sleeping in Lafayette Park. She eventually found secretarial work with Warner Brothers and was writing scripts for radio station KFWB. She joined the John Reed Club
John Reed Club
The John Reed Club was an American, semi-national, Marxist club for writers, artists, and intellectuals, named after the American journalist, activist, and poet, John Reed.-Founding:...
and was a member of the US Communist Party for 11 years, visiting the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1936, but left due to the authoritarian structure and in-fighting. In 1938 she returned to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
to work for the Farm Security Administration
Farm Security Administration
Initially created as the Resettlement Administration in 1935 as part of the New Deal in the United States, the Farm Security Administration was an effort during the Depression to combat American rural poverty...
.
Babb kept detailed notes (borrowed at one point by John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
) on the tent camps of the Dust Bowl
Dust Bowl
The Dust Bowl, or the Dirty Thirties, was a period of severe dust storms causing major ecological and agricultural damage to American and Canadian prairie lands from 1930 to 1936...
migrants to California. In the late 1930s Babb began turning this material into a novel, Whose Names Are Unknown. Bennett Cerf
Bennett Cerf
Bennett Alfred Cerf was a publisher and co-founder of Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearances lecturing across the United States, and for his television appearances in the panel game show What's My Line?.-Biography:Bennett Cerf...
planned to publish the novel with Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
, but the appearance of John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
's The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath
The Grapes of Wrath is a novel published in 1939 and written by John Steinbeck, who was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1940 and the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1962....
caused publication to be shelved in 1939. Her novel didn't get published until 2004.
Babb had a long friendship with William Saroyan
William Saroyan
William Saroyan was an Armenian American dramatist and author. The setting of many of his stories and plays is the center of Armenian-American life in California in his native Fresno.-Early years:...
starting in 1932 that grew into an unrequited love affair on Saroyan's part, as well as an affair with Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison
Ralph Waldo Ellison was an American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer. He was born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Ellison is best known for his novel Invisible Man, which won the National Book Award in 1953...
.
She met her future husband, the Chinese-American cinematographer
Cinematographer
A cinematographer is one photographing with a motion picture camera . The title is generally equivalent to director of photography , used to designate a chief over the camera and lighting crews working on a film, responsible for achieving artistic and technical decisions related to the image...
James Wong Howe
James Wong Howe
James Wong Howe, A.S.C. was a Chinese American cinematographer who worked on over 130 films...
, before World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. They traveled to Paris in 1937 to marry, but their marriage was not recognized by the United States until 1948, after the law banning racial intermarriage
Anti-miscegenation laws in the United States
Anti-miscegenation laws have been a part of American law since before its independence. They were ruled unconstitional by the Surpreme Court in 1967...
was abolished. Due to the ban, Howe's studio contract "morals clause" prohibited him from publicly acknowledging their marriage. They would not cohabit due to his traditional Chinese views, so they had separate apartments in the same building.
In the early 1940s Babb was West Coast secretary of the League of American Writers
League of American Writers
The League of American Writers was an association of American novelists, playwrights, poets, journalists, and literary critics launched by the Communist Party USA in 1935...
. She edited the literary magazine The Clipper and its successor The California Quarterly, helping to introduce the work of Ray Bradbury
Ray Bradbury
Ray Douglas Bradbury is an American fantasy, horror, science fiction, and mystery writer. Best known for his dystopian novel Fahrenheit 451 and for the science fiction stories gathered together as The Martian Chronicles and The Illustrated Man , Bradbury is one of the most celebrated among 20th...
and B. Traven
B. Traven
B. Traven was the pen name of a German novelist, whose real name, nationality, date and place of birth and details of biography are all subject to dispute. A rare certainty is that B...
, as well as running a Chinese restaurant owned by Howe.
During the early years of the HUAC witch-hunts, Babb was blacklisted
Blacklist
A blacklist is a list or register of entities who, for one reason or another, are being denied a particular privilege, service, mobility, access or recognition. As a verb, to blacklist can mean to deny someone work in a particular field, or to ostracize a person from a certain social circle...
, and moved to Mexico City
Mexico City
Mexico City is the Federal District , capital of Mexico and seat of the federal powers of the Mexican Union. It is a federal entity within Mexico which is not part of any one of the 31 Mexican states but belongs to the federation as a whole...
to protect the "graylisted" Howe from further harassment.
Works
- The Lost Traveler, 1958
- An Owl on Every Post, 1970
- The Killer Instinct and Other Stories from the Great Depression, 1987
- Cry of the Tinamou, 1997
- Told in the Seed, 1998
- Whose Names Are Unknown, 2004
- On the Dirty Plate Trail: Remembering the Dust Bowl refugee camps, 2007