August Wilson (1945 - 2005)

I woke up to the news this morning that Pulizter Prize-winning playwright August Wilson has died at the age of 60. He succumbed to liver cancer. Charles Isherwood has written a thorough and very thoughtful obituary for the NY Times. Chris Rawson has also written a noteworthy obituary for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Rawson's piece shares recent conversations with the playwright, as well as with his sister, Frieda, who still lives in August's hometown of Pittsburgh, the city that serves as the backdop for 9 of his 10 plays.

I had the distinct pleasure of working with August for a short time in 1996. Although I do not have the words right now to adequately communicate my thoughts about August as a person and as an artist, I would like to share his words with you.

He gave me a children's book as a gift. It was actually my favorite book as a child. I had shared that tidbit with him during one of our numerous afternoons together. The book was entitled Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Judith Viorst.

In the book, Alexander is having a very bad day. It all starts when he wakes up with gum in his hair, and the whole day goes from bad to worse. So many of the childhood calamities that we stress about as elementary school children befall this little boy all in one day (getting in trouble in school, falling out of favor with his best friend, going to the dentist...and on and on). He keeps threathening to move to Australia. But his mother tells him that "some days are just like that...even in Australia."

August said to me that, just like Alexander, the character of Youngblood in his play Jitney is also having a "terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day" where no matter how much he tries, everything goes wrong, and he feels terribly misunderstood. A few weeks after that conversation, I came into work, and the book was sitting on my desk. I was very touched that he had given me my very own copy of my favorite book from my childhood. On the inside cover, he had written an inscription:

May all your days be awesome, adventurous, exciting and very blessed--August Wilson

You affected countless people with the plays you wrote, August. You chronicled a century of African-American experience, and you made it our experience. Thank you for an awesome, exciting, and very blessed adventure in the theatre.