Since James Baldwin's death nearly 40 years ago, the literary lion's final home, in the South of France, has drawn a procession of acolytes to the Provençal community of Saint-Paul de Vence, where he spent the last 17 years of his life.
The 300-year-old villa in which he resided no longer exists: By 2019 developers had converted the site into a luxury apartment complex. But that hasn't deterred generations of admirers, inflamed and enlightened by Baldwin's prose, from making a pilgrimage. Including me. Seizing the occasion of the writer's centennial year, I paid a visit in April. My first stop was a table at a Baldwin hangout, the Café de la Place on Place du Général de Gaulle, for a croque monsieur and a double espresso.
My entry point into Baldwin had been his first, arguably greatest work of fiction, Go Tell It on the Mountain. I devoured his oeuvre as a student and journalist and author. He became my muse and my specter. At times I wasn't sure if I was looking over his shoulder or he over mine. Like countless other Black writers confronting Baldwin, I grappled with what literary critic Harold Bloom termed "the anxiety of influence", the artist's internal burden of trying to overcome the relentless tug of a predecessor's literary gravity.
As Toni Morrison put it in her eulogy at Baldwin's funeral in 1987, at Manhattan's Cathedral of St. John the Divine: "You gave me a language to dwell in-a gift so perfect it seems my own invention. I have been thinking your spoken and written thoughts for so long, I believed they were mine. I have been seeing the world through your eyes for so long, I believed that clear, clear view was my own."
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Cinema VERITÉ
At Art Basel Paris, Miu Miu reaffirms its support of women in film
A KILLER VIEW
When an heiress to the L.L. Bean fortune noticed that a grove of majestic oaks on her coastal Maine property had died, she cast her suspicions on her neighbors uphill, summer residents who wanted a better view of Camden Harbor. The legal fight that ensued became a town drama that roils to this day
ATLAS SHRUGGED
A brawny bodybuilder with a generous side: atypical Wall Street sage. But as CIO of Scott Minerd was an Guggenheim Partners, he oversaw billions for the firm and made millions for himself to him and His sudden death shocked spurred infighting over his $400 million estate even those closest
Red Hot
There's no one in Hollywood-or anywhere else, probably-like NATASHA LYONNE. Her wry, wrenching work in Poker Face, His Three Daughters, and Russian Doll has brought an indie favorite into the spotlight
The Maly Poppins of Mulholland Drive
When I was nine, Lara Flynn Boyle was my father's sweetheart- and my best friend
THE SQUATTER OF POINT DUME
SURE, LET A NEIGHBOR USE THE GUEST ROOM FOR A FEW NIGHTS. WHAT COULD GO WRONG? A LOT, AS A SERIES OF UNSUSPECTING RESIDENTS LEARNED AFTER ONE WOMAN ALLEGEDLY EXPLOITED CALIFORNIA'S TENANCY LAWS TO TURN CASUAL STAYS INTO PROTRACTED EVICTION WARS IN AN EXCLUSIVE MALIBU ENCLAVE
Girls, INTERRUPTED
Nestled in the Berkshires, with a pedigree dating back to 1898, MISS HALL'S SCHOOL appears to be a cocoon of safety and formative tutelage for its students, all of them young women. But for decades, an alleged sexual predator operated on campus. Now alumnae are speaking out in hopes of holding their former teacher-and the school-accountable
Coming HOMME
ROBERT PATTINSON has been the face of Dior Homme for more than a decade. With a brand-new fragrance campaign and a leading role in Mickey 17, the actor takes a moment to reflect
The Californians
Ensconced in their cozy Montecito mansion, Harry and Meghan are living the California dream, raising their own little prince and princess. By all accounts, the love is real. But five years after their break with the monarchy, their foray into moguldom has not always been a smooth ride
Behind THE PODIUM
As President Biden's barrier-breaking press secretary leaves the White House, she considers the ups and downs of being a first