Truman Capote: Truman Streckfus Person

Since literacy has been around, there has always been an author that could grab an audience’s attention. From Stephen King to Nora Roberts to Michael Crichton, they have all been able to get the audience’s attention. Truman Capote was an amazing author, yet had struggles in life. He was able to overcome some, but not all. Truman Streckfus Persons was born in New Orleans. He was born on September 30, 1924. His parents were Lillie Mae Faulk and Archulus (Arch) Persons (“Truman Capote.” Biography.com). He died on August 24, 1984 of liver cancer and drug complications (“Truman Capote.” www.famousauthors.org). He was 59, and he had less than a month before his 60th birthday (Krebs, “Truman Capote Biography). He was neglected as a child, so

He began writing at a young age. His first short story was written at the age of ten (“Truman Capote.” www.famousauthors.org). He obviously had a talent for writing. He got his start at the “New Yorker Magazine.” He was a copy boy there. Being a copy boy was his very first job. He was very young when he started working there. He had not even finished high school yet. His story “Mademoiselle” caught the attention of many. Yet, the one who got to get Capote was a fiction editor, Mary Louise Aswell. This caused him to gain much recognition in the 1940’s (“Truman Capote.” Biography.com). After the 1940’s, his popularity sky rocketed. It seemed everyone was dying to have one of his books. Truman said “Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.” This all became worse when he published his book “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” This was about a young woman who moves to New York, and begins to live in the same apartment building as an older man. The older man is married to a very wealthy women, but he wants to leave her and become a writer. Yet, he will not be able to support himself financially. He finally meets the young woman and figures out she is an escort. She is a very wealthy escort. He ends up leaving his wife for the young woman and he becomes a writer. This book was a romantic comedy. Capote wrote in many different genres. His other book that people loved was “In Cold Blood.” This book was about a family of four that lived in

Jack Dunphy was the love of his life. Jack Dunphy and Capote were truly in love. They met when Jack was 34 and Truman was 23. Many would say Jack should use Truman to get more publicity. Jack said “I never ask Truman for anything because he has given me everything.” They also lived with each other for quite a while. They lived with each other thirty- five years. Their time was spent in many different places. The two were always traveling due to their work. They never spent as much time with each other as they had wished, but they made it work. They would do long distance phone calls and talked all night long. They sometimes went traveling. They traveled to Greece, Italy, and Switzerland. They had two houses. One was an apartment in Manhattan. The other was a chalet in the Swiss Alps. There was also a cottage they had. Truman and Jack would often stay in the cottage together. Dunphy would wake up early in the mornings and make breakfast for Truman (Diliberto). When they would go to the cabins, Jack would often go out. When he would come back, he would know that Capote drinking and doing drugs. He would never say anything about it, but he always knew. Capote would always keep it very secret. He would only drink and do drugs when Jack was not around. The day Capote died Jack said he was fine. He said he was never suicidal, and have no thoughts about doing anything. Capote even told