Tennessee Williams and the South

Tennessee Williams remarked on several occasions that the farther south one went in America, the more congenial life became

Though he sojourned elsewhere, he embraced the South, the region of his birth, as his creative homeland

Few writers have been more closely connected with it than he

Combining his words with photographs, this biographical album reveals Williams' closeness with the American South, and especially with his beloved New Orleans

Williams was born in Mississippi and lived there with his family until he was seven

Thomas Lanier Williams, who became “Tennessee,” absorbed much of his creative material from this Mississippi home place

Many of his ancestors were distinguished Tennesseans, a fact in which he took considerable pride

Although he grew to maturity in St Louis, it was to the South that he continually returned in his memory and in his imagination

It was in New Orleans and Key West that he chose to spend a large part of his later years

This book underscores that intimate connection by featuring photographs of people and places that influenced him

Enhanced with a long essay and captioned with quotations from Williams's plays, memoirs, and letters, more than one hundred pictures document the keen sense of place that he felt throughout his life and career