Jervis Beresford Anderson (October 1, 1932 – December 1999) was a Jamaican-born journalist and author best known for his biographies of A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin. Anderson was born in then-British colony Jamaica to Ethlyn Anderson (née Allen) and Peter Anderson.[1][2] [3] He attended Kingston Technical School, and became a reporter for Jamaican newspaper The Daily Gleaner.[3][4]
Jervis Anderson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Jervis Beresford Anderson October 1, 1932 Jamaica |
| Died | December 1999 (aged 67) New York City, US |
| Occupation | Journalist and author |
| Alma mater | New York University |
| Spouse |
Eugenia Kemble
(m. 1969; div. 1979) |
Later, in 1958, he moved to New York to attend New York University, earning a bachelor's degree in 1963 and graduating in 1966 with a master's degree in English.[1][2][5] He joined The New Yorker in 1968, and throughout his career there, he wrote many portraits and profiles of notables such as poet Derek Walcott, writer Cornel West, and jazz musician Wynton Marsalis.[3][6]
He married Eugenia Kemble on September 24, 1969, and they divorced in 1979.[1] He retired from The New Yorker in 1998, but remained active as a writer and scholar.[3] He died in 1999 between Christmas and New Year's at his New York City apartment of natural causes, and his body was found on January 7, 2000.[4][6][7]
Partial bibliography
edit- A. Philip Randolph: A Biographical Portrait. Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. 1973. ISBN 0-15-107830-0.
- Bayard Rustin: Troubles I've Seen. HarperCollins. 1997. ISBN 0-06-016702-5.
- Guns in American Life. Random House. 1984. ISBN 0-394-53598-7.
- This Was Harlem: A Cultural Portrait, 1900-1950. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1982. ISBN 0-37-427623-4.
- "England in Jamaica: Memories from a Colonial Boyhood". The American Scholar. Vol. 69, no. 2. 2000. pp. 15–30. JSTOR 41212992.
References
edit- ^ a b c Black Writers: A Selection of Sketches from Contemporary Authors (Second ed.). Gale Research. 1994. pp. 15–16. ISBN 0-8103-7788-8. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
- ^ a b Fikes, Robert (May 31, 2013). "Anderson, Jervis". African American Studies Center. Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/acref/9780195301731.013.36074. ISBN 978-0-19-530173-1. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
{{cite book}}:|work=ignored (help) - ^ a b c d Pogrebin, Robin (January 12, 2000). "Jervis Anderson, Writer for New Yorker And Biographer of Rustin, Is Dead at 67". The New York Times. p. B10. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- ^ a b Oliver, Myrna (January 17, 2000). "Jervis Anderson; Journalist and Biographer". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 5, 2021.
- ^ "Author of Randolph biography awarded". Pittsburgh Courier. June 8, 1974. Retrieved January 5, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ a b "Obituaries in the News". Associated Press. January 13, 2000. Retrieved January 5, 2020.
- ^ "Jervis Anderson 1932–1999". The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education (26): 51. 2000. JSTOR 2999150.