Later, he attended, but did not graduate from, [[Erskine College]]. He was athletic, played football, stood six feet tall, and has been described by one of his publishers to have an unusually kind face and otherwise angelic appearance. His political sympathies lay with blue collar workers, and as he went from job to job in his younger days, drew on his experiences with common workers to write books that extolled the simple life of those less fortunate than he was. Later in life, he gave seminars on low income [[sharecropper|tenant-sharecroppers]] in the [[American South]].
Later, he attended, but did not graduate from, [[Erskine College]]. He was athletic, played football, stood six feet tall, and has been described by one of his publishers to have an unusually kind face and otherwise angelic appearance. His political sympathies lay with blue collar workers, and as he went from job to job in his younger days, drew on his experiences with common workers to write books that extolled the simple life of those less fortunate than he was. Later in life, he gave seminars on low income [[sharecropper|tenant-sharecroppers]] in the [[American South]].
His first and second published works are ''[[Bastard]]'' and ''[[Damn Fool]]'' but the works for which he is most famous are his novels ''[[Tobacco Road (novel)|Tobacco Road]]'' and ''[[God's Little Acre]]''.
His first and second published works were ''[[Bastard]]'' (1929) and ''[[Damn Fool]]'' (1930) but the works for which he is most famous are his novels ''[[Tobacco Road (novel)|Tobacco Road]]'' (1932) and ''[[God's Little Acre]]'' (1933).
When his first book came out, it was banned (perhaps on the basis of the title alone), and copies were seized by authorities. Later, on the publication of ''God's Little Acre'', authorities went even further and, at the instigation of the [[New York Literary Society]] (apparently incensed at Caldwell's choice of titles), arrested Caldwell and seized his copies when he went to [[New York]] for a book-signing event. A full trial exonerated Caldwell completely, and he counter-sued for false arrest and malicious prosecution.
Through the 1930s, Caldwell and his wife ran a bookstore in [[Maine]].
Through the 1930s, Caldwell and his wife ran a bookstore in [[Maine]].
Revision as of 00:06, 22 August 2006
Erskine Caldwell photographed by Carl Van Vechten, 1938
His early childhood was spent moving from state to state across the South, as his father found a position in one church after another.
Later, he attended, but did not graduate from, Erskine College. He was athletic, played football, stood six feet tall, and has been described by one of his publishers to have an unusually kind face and otherwise angelic appearance. His political sympathies lay with blue collar workers, and as he went from job to job in his younger days, drew on his experiences with common workers to write books that extolled the simple life of those less fortunate than he was. Later in life, he gave seminars on low income tenant-sharecroppers in the American South.
His first and second published works were Bastard (1929) and Damn Fool (1930) but the works for which he is most famous are his novels Tobacco Road (1932) and God's Little Acre (1933).
When his first book came out, it was banned (perhaps on the basis of the title alone), and copies were seized by authorities. Later, on the publication of God's Little Acre, authorities went even further and, at the instigation of the New York Literary Society (apparently incensed at Caldwell's choice of titles), arrested Caldwell and seized his copies when he went to New York for a book-signing event. A full trial exonerated Caldwell completely, and he counter-sued for false arrest and malicious prosecution.
Through the 1930s, Caldwell and his wife ran a bookstore in Maine.
At the height of World War II, Caldwell obtained papers from the USSR that allowed him to travel to the Ukraine and work as a foreign correspondent documenting the war effort there. Disillusionment with the stifling intrigues of the Stalinist regime led him to pen a four page short story, Message for Genevieve, published on returning to the United States in 1944. In this story, a woman journalist is executed by a firing squad after being tried in a secret court on charges of espionage.
A lifelong smoker, Caldwell died of a tobacco-related illness on April 11, 1987.
The house he was born in, was preserved and made into a museum.
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