William Attaway
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William Attaway was an African American novelist, short story writer, essayist, songwriter, playwright, and screenwriter. He was born on November 19, 1911 in Greenville, Mississippi. His parents were William S. Attaway, a physician and Florence Parry Attaway, a teacher. At the age of six, the Attaways moved to Chicago, Illinois to escape the segregated South.
In Chicago, William attended a vocational high school, where he was planning on becoming an auto mechanic. He seemed not to show interest in school, until he was assigned a poem written by Langston Hughes. Once he learned that Hughes was a black poet, Attaway decided to start applying himself to his school work. He even enjoyed writing so much that he wrote for his sister Ruth’s amateur dramatic groups (Jacobs).
After graduating from high school, Attaway enrolled at the University of Illinois[clarify]. There, he was a tennis college champion. Even though he was doing so well at college, his father’s death caused William to drop out and became a traveling worker for two years. During these years he worked as a salesman, a labor organizer, and a seaman (Registry). It was over these years of wandering that he began to collect material for his later works.
In 1935, Attaway began working on his first project as he helped to write the Federal Writer’s Project guide to Illinois. While he was working on this project he became good friends with Richard Wright, another soon to be famous novelist. Soon after his first project was over William returned back to the University of Illinois and received his degree. He then moved to New York where his drama "Carnival" was produced (Jacobs).
His first story, "Tale of the Blackamoor" was produced in 1936. In between works, he worked many odd jobs and even tried acting with his sister Ruth. Ruth later became a successful Broadway actress, and she ultimately helped to fuel Attaway’s career (Registry). In 1939, Attaway’s first novel "Let me Breathe Thunder" was accepted to begin publication. He then began working on his second and last novel "Blood on the Forge".
After "Blood on the Forge", Attaway began to write songs, screenplays, and books about music (Jacobs). Some of his main works included "Calypso Song Book" and "Hear America Singing". William also wrote the famous song Day-O Banana Boat Song for his friend Harry Belafonte. In the 1950s, he began to write for radio, TV, and films. William was the first African-American writer to write scripts for film and TV (Registry). He wrote for programs like Wide Wide World and Colgate Hour.
Attaway was married in 1962 to a woman named Frances. They lived in Barbados for eleven years with their two children Bill and Noelle. During his last year he lived in Los Angeles, California writing screenplays. William Attaway died in 1986 of lung cancer.
