Hettie Jones (née Cohen;15 June 1934 – August 13, 2024) was an American poet. She wrote 23 books that include a memoir of the Beat Generation, three volumes of poetry, and publications for children and young adults, including The Trees Stand Shining and Big Star Fallin' Mama: Five Women in Black Music.
Hettie Jones | |
|---|---|
 Jones in 2019 | |
| Born | Hettie Cohen June 15, 1934 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | August 13, 2024 (aged 90) |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, poet |
| Notable work | How I became Hettie Jones |
| Movement | Beat Generation |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Kellie Jones Lisa Jones |
Early life
editHettie Jones was born Hettie Cohen on 15 June 1934 in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family. She was raised in Laurelton, Queens.[1] She entered Mary Washington College in Virginia in 1952. She had not traveled far from her home until college, and had not experienced antisemitism up until that time: "The roommates didn't want to live with me because I was a Jew."[2]
Career
editAfter graduating from college and returning to New York, Jones married LeRoi Jones (later known as Amiri Baraka), an African-American writer. Her family initially disowned her for marrying a black man, but her husband's family was welcoming.[2] Despite living in the diverse Lower East Side of Manhattan, they were sometimes harassed in public for being an interracial couple.[3]
In 1957, the couple founded the literary magazine Yugen, and launched the publication house Totem Press.[4] They published early works by Beat generation figures Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Frank O'Hara, all of whom they'd befriended as well.[3][5]
By 1964, LeRoi had become active in the Black Arts movement and their marriage was deteriorating.[6] While still married to Hettie, he fathered a daughter, Dominique di Prima, with poet Diane DiPrima. LeRoi divorced Hettie and moved to Harlem. She continued writing, editing, and teaching.[3]
Jones published her memoir, How I Became Hettie Jones, in 1990. She detailed the experiences of growing up among a Jewish family and community, being part of the Beat Generation, her early writing, and the social difficulties of being in an interracial marriage and raising biracial children.[7] In 1999, Jones won the Poetry Society of America’s Norma Farber First Book Award for her first volume of poetry titled Drive.[8] According to Booklist, the publication of Drive is what established Jones as a “potent and fearless poet.”[9]
Jones was a longtime editor and taught poetry, fiction, and memoir at many universities, including Penn State University, NYU, the 92nd Street Y, University of Wyoming, and Parsons School of Design.[10] Jones was a former chair of the PEN Prison Writing Committee, and from 1989 to 2002 she ran a writing workshop at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women.[11] This workshop hailed as an inspiration for Jones’ nationally distributed collection, Aliens At The Border.[12] Jones also co-authored a memoir for Rita Marley, widow of Bob Marley.[13] More recently, Jones received grants to begin a writing program on Manhattan's Lower East Side at the Lower East Side Girls Club Center for Community.[14] Her book, Love, H, a selection from 40 years of correspondence with the sculptor Helene Dorn, was published by Duke University Press in October 2016.[15]
Personal life
editJones has two daughters from her marriage to Amiri Baraka: Kellie Jones (born 1959) and Lisa Jones Brown (born 1961). They are educators and writers.[9]
Jones resided in the same East Village apartment at 27 Cooper Square that she and LeRoi moved into in 1962.[6] She successfully spearheaded a campaign in 2005 to save her apartment building when it was to be demolished to build a hotel.[16]
Jones continued to teach and write.[17] She died in Philadelphia on August 13, 2024, at the age of 90.[3]
Works
edit- How I became Hettie Jones: A Memoir
- Drive
- Big Star Fallin’ Mama -- Five Women in Black Music
- No Woman No Cry
- All Told
- Doing 70
References
edit- ^ Harris, Rosemary Banks. "The Story Behind Hettie Jones' Metamorphosis", Orlando Sentinel, July 15, 1990. Accessed January 16, 2023. "The night of Billie's second TV appearance found Hettie Cohen visiting her hometown of Laurelton, in Queens, celebrating a belated 24th birthday with her mother."
- ^ a b "Beat Generation writer Hettie Jones continues to influence lives". Fox 5 New York. October 24, 2018.
- ^ a b c d Anderson, Lincoln (August 16, 2024). "Hettie Jones, poet, writer, social justice activist, dies at 90". TheVillageSun.com. Retrieved August 16, 2024.
- ^ "About Hettie Jones | Academy of American Poets".
- ^ Green, Penelope (August 8, 2024). "Hettie Jones, Poet and Author Who Nurtured the Beats, Dies at 90". The New York Times. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
- ^ a b Sargent, Antwaun (March 15, 2017). "The Legend Upstairs: Writer, Poet, and Activist Hettie Jones". StandardHotels.com. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
- ^ Johnson, Joyce. "Women of the Beat Generation: Conversations with Joyce Johnson and Hettie Jones". College of Wooster. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
- ^ "Hettie Jones". September 15, 2014. Archived from the original on November 1, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
- ^ a b Weidman, Rich (September 2015). The Beat Generation FAQ: All That's Left to Know About the Angelheaded Hipsters. Rowman & Littlefield. ISBN 9781617136351.
- ^ "Hettie Jones". Grove Atlantic. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
- ^ Kates, Ariel (May 3, 2019). "Hettie Jones, 2019 Village Awardee". Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
- ^ Jones, Hettie (January 1997). Aliens at the Border. Segue Books. ISBN 0937804665.
- ^ Marley, Rita; Jones, Hettie (2005). No Woman, No Cry: My Life with Bob Marley. Pan Books. ISBN 0330493302.
- ^ "Girls Club is aiming for the stars, and also hoping to make them". October 31, 2013.
- ^ "Love, H: The Letters of Helene Dorn and Hettie Jones". Duke University Press. October 2016. Retrieved November 2, 2024.
- ^ Kaufman, David (September 26, 2008). "At a Flashy New Hotel, a Pair of Eloises". The New York Times.
- ^ "Hettie Jones". Grove Atlantic. Retrieved April 30, 2019.
External links
edit- New School MFA in Creative Writing Archived May 21, 2018, at the Wayback Machine
- How I Became Hettie Jones
- Hettie Jones - Grove Atlantic
- Hettie Jones - Academy of American Poets
- Hettie Jones - Goddard College[permanent dead link]
- Interview with Hettie Jones by Stephen McKiernan, Binghamton University Libraries Center for the Study of the 1960s, July 6, 2009
- Finding aid to Hettie Jones papers at Columbia University. Rare Book & Manuscript Library.