338:
His books are a stunning fusion of formal experimentation and supple, lyric prose. There is nothing like them anywhere in
American letters. Though he sometimes was compared to the young John Dos Passos, Sanford's work was so original that it confounded critics and their categories -- probably to his
224:, his friend West (born Weinstein), suggested he change his name to one less identifiably Jewish. Shapiro used the name of a character from his first book and published his second under the pseudonym of John B. Sanford (which he adopted as his legal name in 1940). They both thought that
761:: Sanford: "While there, I completed The Water Wheel, wrote a series of short stories and began a second novel, The Old Man's Place. That novel ultimately took me to Hollywood and Paramount Pictures. One of those stories ended my friendship with West ..."
268:
While
Sanford continued as a member of the Communist Party, Roberts was not as strongly committed. She became a member after meeting him, but turned back her card in 1947. Their associations resulted in their being called to testify before the
315:
Sanford later turned to the biographical and autobiographical genre. He published half of his works after he was 80. He created a gallery of small portraits that dramatized his stories, making them more accessible and colorful.
333:
After
Roberts died in 1989, Sanford devoted his writing to exploring their more than 50-year marriage. In spite of vision troubles, he was writing one month before his death at 98. According to Tim Rutten,
131:, after he and his wife Marguerite Roberts refused to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee, they were blacklisted and unable to work in Hollywood for nearly a decade.
359:, the informer who gave more than 150 names (including the Sanfords) to the inquiry committee in 1951. Jack Mearns was appointed literary executor. A psychology teacher at the
274:
370:
was reprinted under his real name (Julian L. Shapiro) by Tough Poets Press, with an introduction by
Sanford's bibliographer, Jack Mearns. In 2021, his novels
852:
259:; she was one of the most respected and best-paid screenwriters of Hollywood. She was the moneymaker of the couple. Together, they wrote the scenario of
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265:(1941). When Sanford was later offered a contract with MGM, Roberts encouraged him to devote his effort to his personal writing, which he did.
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363:, he said that Sanford, in his story "Judas and Inquiry" for the book on Berkeley, explored the mind of a man who would inform on others.
416:, University of Wisconsin Press, 2002. (Facsimile edition of a 1930 French literary periodical that contained a contribution by Shapiro)
862:
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887:
877:
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320:(1985), the first volume of his five-volume autobiography, covered 1904–1927. Four other titles followed, which earned him the
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144:
Lifetime
Achievement Award. He left three unpublished novels and was writing up until a month before his death at 98.
277:. This effectively ended their Hollywood careers. Roberts was blacklisted from 1951 to 1962. In 1957 they moved to
897:
168:. His mother died in 1914 when he was only 10, which marked his life. He attended local public schools as a boy.
134:
Sanford wrote half of his books after he was 80. He published a 5-volume autobiography, for which he received a
803:
309:
255:
and would never renounce his political convictions. In 1939 Roberts signed the first of many contracts with
123:(May 31, 1904 – March 6, 2003), was an American screenwriter and prose writer who wrote 24 books. The
261:
237:
717:
292:(1943) is considered Sanford's masterpiece. The novel tells of a small-town shop owner who rapes a young
382:, the first two books of his Warrensburg trilogy, were re-released with new introductions by Mearns, by
355:
about the first five years of his marriage with
Marguerite Roberts. He also contributed to a book about
278:
48:
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in the town. In turn, the shop owner is finally killed by the black woman. At the time, the poet
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describes him as, "Perhaps the most outstanding neglected novelist." A one-time member of the
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153:
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212:) and gave up working as a lawyer. In the summer of 1931, isolated in a log cabin in the
184:
821:
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said it's "the most important book of fiction published here in the last 20 years."
771:
718:
John B. Sanford/Robert W. Smith
Collection, University of California, Santa Barbara
233:
225:
176:
93:
542:
A Very Good Land to Fall With: Scenes from the Life of an
American Jew, Volume 3
391:
383:
213:
743:
755:
Nathanaël West, Introduction by
Jonathan Lethem, Afterword by John Sanford,
554:
The Season, It Was Winter: Scenes from the Life of an
American Jew, Volume 5
187:, Shapiro decided to focus on writing when West said he was writing a book.
536:
The Waters of Darkness: Scenes from the Life of an American Jew, Volume 2
526:
The Color of the Air: Scenes from the Life of an American Jew, Volume 1
548:
A Walk in the Fire: Scenes from the Life of an American Jew, Volume 4
161:
36:
776:
Trinity of Passion: The Literary Left and the Antifascist Crusade
165:
301:
318:
The Color of the Air: Scenes From the Life of an American Jew
804:
Tim Rutten, "Sanford's originality came through to the end"
251:, a screenwriter. The same year, he became involved in the
520:
The Winters of That Country: Tales of the Man Made Seasons
501:
View From This Wilderness: American Literature as History
744:
The Life and Work of John Sanford. Biographical Overview
572:
We Have a Little Sister: Marguerite: The Midwest Years
183:, obtaining his degree in 1929. A childhood friend of
664:
The Cambridge Companion to Jewish American literature
228:
could hurt their book sales. In 1935, the success of
477:
A More Goodly Country: A Personal History of America
220:. When he was close to publishing his second book,
86:
76:
62:
54:
42:
28:
21:
628:
125:Cambridge Companion to Jewish American Literature
273:. They both refused to give names, invoking the
164:immigrant father, who was a lawyer. Both were
578:A Palace of Silver: A Memoir of Maggie Roberts
449:, New York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1943.
733:, University of Illinois Press, 1996, p. XVII
507:To Feed Their Hopes. A Book of American Women
461:, Garden City: Doubleday & Company, 1953.
8:
757:Miss Lonelyhearts and the Day of the Locust
667:. Cambridge University Press. p. 179.
585:Miss Lonelyhearts and The Day of the Locust
522:, Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1984.
431:), New York: Albert and Charles Boni, 1935.
630:"John Sanford, 98, Novelist and Memoirist"
583:(with Jonathan Lethem and Nathanael West)
566:The View from Mt. Morris: A Harlem Boyhood
538:, Santa Barbara: Black Sparrow Press, 1986
18:
799:
797:
795:
707:, David R. Godine Publisher, 1986. p.293
562:, Fort Lee, N.J.: Barricade Books, 1993.
556:, Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1991.
550:, Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1989.
544:, Santa Rosa: Black Sparrow Press, 1987.
473:, Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1967.
620:
600:John Sanford. An annotated bibliography
509:, University of Illinois Press, 1980.
366:In March 2020, Sanford's first novel,
361:California State University, Fullerton
343:Sanford left three unpublished books:
271:House Un-American Activities Committee
16:American screenwriter and prose writer
692:, University of Illinois Press, 1997.
602:, New Castle, Oak Knoll Press, 2008.
7:
491:, University of Illinois Press, 1997
253:Communist Party of the United States
661:; Michael P. Kramer (1 June 2003).
580:, Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 2003.
574:, Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 1995.
503:, Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 1977.
497:, Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 1976.
485:, Santa Barbara, Capra Press, 1976.
455:, Los Angeles: Plantin Press, 1951.
300:, and tries to get rid of the only
853:Members of the Communist Party USA
810:8 March 2003, accessed 12 May 2011
587:, New Directions Publishing, 2009.
568:, New York: Barricade Books, 1994.
437:, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1939.
14:
903:Burials at Santa Barbara Cemetery
858:People from Montecito, California
759:, New Directions Publishing, 2009
386:. The third book of the trilogy,
893:Screenwriters from New York City
778:. UNC Press Books. p. 187.
479:, New York, Horizon Press, 1975.
247:, where he met his future wife
216:, he finished his first novel,
467:, New York: W.W. Norton, 1964.
243:In 1936, Sanford was hired by
232:allowed Sanford to consider a
1:
848:Jewish American screenwriters
390:, was re-released in 2022 by
58:John Sanford, John B. Sanford
639:. 17 March 2003. p. B 7
330:Lifetime Achievement Award.
347:, about the women he knew;
236:'s career, and he moved to
152:Julian Shapiro was born in
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459:The Land That Touches Mine
308:lauded the book, and poet
863:Fordham University alumni
410:, The Dragon Press, 1933.
353:Little Sister Spoken For,
349:A Citizen of No Mean City
179:, Shapiro studied law at
91:
868:Lafayette College alumni
351:, about his father; and
296:woman, beats to death a
883:Writers from California
339:professional detriment.
310:William Carlos Williams
190:Shapiro then wrote for
121:Julian Lawrence Shapiro
32:Julian Lawrence Shapiro
888:Writers from Manhattan
878:Victims of McCarthyism
838:Artists from Manhattan
731:The People from Heaven
705:The Waters of Darkness
465:Every Island Fled Away
447:The People from Heaven
403:As Julian L. Shapiro:
388:The People from Heaven
341:
290:The People From Heaven
281:, near Santa Barbara.
171:After graduating from
156:to a first-generation
71:The People From Heaven
690:Intruders in paradise
489:Intruders in Paradise
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279:Montecito, California
49:Montecito, California
560:Maggie: A Love Story
873:Hollywood blacklist
530:Black Sparrow Press
453:A Man without Shoes
441:Make My Bed in Hell
435:Seventy Times Seven
427:(originally titled
425:The Old Man's Place
380:Make My Bed In Hell
374:(originally titled
372:The Old Man’s Place
257:Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
230:The Old Man's Place
222:The Old Man's Place
67:The Old Man's Place
843:People from Harlem
808:Los Angeles Times,
636:The New York Times
495:Adirondack Stories
483:Adirondack Stories
322:PEN/Faulkner Award
249:Marguerite Roberts
245:Paramount Pictures
181:Fordham University
136:PEN/Faulkner Award
81:Marguerite Roberts
898:Communist writers
785:978-0-8078-3075-8
729:John B. Sanford,
703:John B. Sanford,
674:978-0-521-79699-6
659:Hana Wirth-Nesher
608:978-1-58456-211-5
528:, Santa Barbara:
420:As John Sanford:
345:A Dinner of Herbs
327:Los Angeles Times
173:Lafayette College
141:Los Angeles Times
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34:May 31, 1904
833:2003 deaths
828:1904 births
392:Brash Books
384:Brash Books
214:Adirondacks
194:magazines (
192:avant-garde
160:mother and
822:Categories
614:References
262:Honky Tonk
96:.fullerton
593:Biography
238:Hollywood
148:Biography
774:(2007).
643:2 August
324:and the
158:American
138:and the
102:/sanford
100:/jmearns
55:Pen name
532:, 1985.
443:, 1939.
414:Tambour
209:Contact
200:Tambour
162:Russian
119:, born
87:Website
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671:
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378:) and
204:Pagany
166:Jewish
77:Spouse
37:Harlem
94:psych
780:ISBN
669:ISBN
645:2021
604:ISBN
511:ISBN
104:.htm
98:.edu
43:Died
29:Born
302:Jew
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