Talk:Truman Capote

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Is Capote2.jpg not loading for anyone else? --Kate 08:19, 22 September 2005 (UTC)

• It was deleted due to a copyright violation. See this page for more details. --71.111.209.194 20:51, 7 October 2005 (UTC)

Does anyone else think that the external link Abstract of Truman Capote is nothing more than a well-designed ad site? I don't trust my judgement on this myself... -- SeanO 23:34, 27 September 2005 (UTC)

Hmm, interesting. The Abstract of Truman Capote site does have a lot external links on it. About half of them seem to go to Amazon and the other half to other Capote related sites or news articles. There is also a bit of original content in the biography and time line section. That and there are no ads at all on the homepage. There are also some links to Google Ads, but that is pretty common these days. Is it updated regularly? I use that as criteria many times. If the content or news is updated, and not just ads, then it may just be a site that has ads on it to supplement time/materials.

Contents 1 Newly Discovered Truman Capote Book to be Published. 2 Interred, or ashed scattered, or both? 3 My edit - removal of the word "allegedly" 4 Death 5 80's TV Documentary 6 Affairs with heterosexuals 7 The film biography did NOT win in 2006 8 "Much-discussed" photo 9 Other Voices, Other Rooms 10 War Service? 11 Reversal of Fortune 12 Marriage of parents 13 the latest of the working-class boyfriends 14 Taught himself to read 15 TNR article on new films, witnesses to the executions 16 Own article for In Cold Blood? 17 Units conversion removed from "In Cold Blood" article quote 18 Randolph in a Mardi Gras Costume 19 Early Life Bio Issue 20 Published and other works 21 Breakfast at Tiffany's

[edit] Newly Discovered Truman Capote Book to be Published.

According to a BBC report, "Summer Crossing", for which the manuscript was first discovered last year, will be published in October 2005.

[edit] Interred, or ashed scattered, or both?

--jeff 01:54, 24 October 2005 (UTC) This article appears to have two contradictory claims about the disposition of Capote's body: that he's interred in a cemetery in Los Angeles (which appears to be true, because there is a crypt there with his name on it), and that he was cremated and his ashes were scattered off of Long Island. Are both of these true? If so, the article should probably say "a portion of his ashes" were scattered.

[edit] My edit - removal of the word "allegedly"

Truman Capote told me he was Dill in To Kill a Mockingbird when I was having lunch with him in the Cafe des Artiste in New York, (1978 or 1979).

[edit] Death

The film Capote (2005) states that his death was a result of complications with alcoholism. Can someone do some research and figure out the truth?? Robert Taylor 18:50, 29 January 2006 (UTC)

• In multiple areas of text it is widely discussed about how T.C. Died. Some say it was drug overdose (highly unlikely) and others say it was alcoholism (which would mean that he had liver failure or something like that). I believe the latter. -fkylw 4:03 PM July, 19 (CST)

[edit] 80's TV Documentary

In the late 1980s or in 1990 I saw a television documentary on Capote. The program featured footage of his television interviews. The soundtrack included music from New Order (specifically a song named "Elegia"). Can anyone verify or provide more information on this?

• In multiple areas of text it is widely discussed about how T.C. Died. Some say it was drug overdose (highly unlikely) and others say it was alcoholism (which would mean that he had liver failure or something like that). I believe the latter. -fkylw 4:03 PM July, 19 (CST)

[edit] Affairs with heterosexuals

Made change to acknowledge that some male actors (Rock Hudson for example) were not heterosexual despite their statements to contrary.

[edit] The film biography did NOT win in 2006

I removed the line about the film biography winning the 2006 Academy Award. It was misleading (Crash won in 2006). Philip Seymour Hoffman won for Best Actor, which is discussed in the next section and contains a link to the film. Thank you.

69.173.211.221 02:16, 7 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "Much-discussed" photo

It isn't really fair to tell us the photo from Other Voices, Other Rooms was much discussed without telling us what the discussion was about. Angr/talk 08:58, 8 March 2006 (UTC)

I agree with this comment, I looked throughout the article trying to find out why the photo was much discussed. Either the article should contain the discussion, or the caption shouldn't mention the discussion. SteveHopson 17:30, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

I'm shooting from the hip, but I believe the photo was felt to be very provocative and suggestive. I agree that the photo should be discussed, or the comment deleted. JJ 17:39, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

I wrote that caption, and I agree with all these comments. I'll try to do some research and provide an explanatory paragraph and a new caption. Have patience. The point is not something easily communicated in a caption, but in 1950-59, no one had ever seen anything like this on the back of a book. For many years, this was the single image people had in mind when thought about Capote. In that regard, this was, during the 1950s, THE most famous photo of Capote. College students owned the paperback with that photo on the back and they did debate Capote's personality and sexuality as they attempted to interpret the meaning behind the photo. Anyway, I'll give it a shot. Maybe I can find a quote somewhere instead of just relying on my memory. Pepso 18:57, 9 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Other Voices, Other Rooms

"The promotion and controversy surrounding this novel catapulted Capote to fame."

""The famous photograph: Harold Halma's picture on the dustjacket of Other Voices, Other Rooms (1948) caused as much comment and controversy as the prose inside."

A perspective from one who knew nothing about Capote prior to reading this article....

Yet more serious than the ambiguity concerning the photograph (the controversial nature of which I think I can just about glean, only bexause I can see the photograph) is the total lack of comment as to the nature of the work itself. It was controversial, and it catapulted him to fame.... could the article not at least tell me what the book (and the controversy) was about, please? I'm intrigued. TheMadBaron 15:00, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

Okay, will do. Pepso 21:39, 5 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] War Service?

Capote was of age to serve in WWII. Did he serve, or if not how did he avoid it? --GaeusOctavius 18:00, 7 June 2006 (UTC)

Discography? was he a musician, did he have a lot of records?

Why don't you actually read the content? It says read by. Meaning that Capote read his works aloud, and those recordings are available. Humph. Mak (talk) 04:06, 18 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Reversal of Fortune

Gotta remember to add some kind of reference to Sunny von Bülow (also see [1]) -HiFiGuy 16:51, 26 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Marriage of parents

"Truman Capote was born Truman Streckfus Persons in New Orleans, Louisiana, to salesman Archulus "Arch" Persons and 17-year-old Lillie Mae Faulk. When he was four, his parents divorced" - This at least implies that his parents were unmarried when he was born in 1924. They divorced when he was four. When did they actually get married? -- 201.51.228.229 22:13, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] the latest of the working-class boyfriends

Does the reference to "the manipulative John O'Shea" as "the latest of the working-class boyfriends" sound a bit dismissive? It suggests that those previous boyfriends were insignificants because they were working class, and that somehow O'Shea's manipulative ways stemmed from his class.

It would be better to identify him more closely, say why he was manipulative, and then maybe comment on his social identity. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Benjaminn (talk • contribs).

I agree. Go for it! Wikipedia:Be bold! Mak (talk) 22:35, 8 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Taught himself to read

This article states that Capote 'taught himself to read'. I'm pretty sure that this is impossible, and that one has to have reading explained to you by one who can already read. I'm therefore removing this unreferenced claim. mgekelly 01:25, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

Here's the reference from Capote's obit in New York Times:

After his mother's divorce from Mr. Persons and her marriage to Joe Capote, she brought her son to live with them in New York. He was sent to several private schools, including Trinity School and St. John's Academy in New York, but he disliked schools and did poorly in his courses, including English, although he had taught himself to read and write when he was 5 years old. Having been told by many teachers that the precocious child was probably mentally backward, the Capotes sent him to a psychiatrist who, Truman Capote said triumphantly some years later, "naturally classified me as a genius."

In the Gerald Clarke biography, a paragraph describes how Capote was usually seen at age five carrying around his dictionary and notepad. Conversations with Truman Capote has a passage telling how Capote taught himself to read (in a town with no library) by collecting old farm magazines and each day at six pm meeting the bus which dropped off the two newspapers from Mobile and Montgomery. Hadley Bond was a gifted child in Australia who taught himself to read by the age of one-and-a-half, had a library at age two and taught himself math at age three. There are hundreds of accounts of people who taught themselves to read, by comparing street signs or Biblical passages to speech, and many mentions of Lincoln teaching himself. The novelist Nicholas Delbanco taught himself to read at age six by studying a book about boats during a transatlantic crossing. Pepso 12:56, 15 October 2006 (UTC)

I taught myself to read at about age 3. A neighbour overheard me reading to her baby and mentioned it to my mother who had no idea. She promptly tested me with various books and discovered I could even read from the encyclopedia (though of course I didn't understand what I was reading). I don't recall any of this, but do remember that I was already reading by the time I went to kindergarten at 4 years old. No one ever sat down and taught me how. I must have just picked it up.--Ibis3 20:25, 25 November 2006 (UTC)

"Truman Capote said of himself: 'I was born in New Orleans in 1924... I learned to read at pre-school age. ... My education has been rather do-it-yourself. To this day I cannot recite the alphabet or the multiplication tables. I had already started writing short stories when I was 14 and some of them were published." --- Excerpt taken from a page about the author (by the author) preluding his novel "The Grass Harp" --anawkwardstroll 04:05, 10 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] TNR article on new films, witnesses to the executions

Please see: [2]--Gkklein 20:07, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Own article for In Cold Blood?

Should we split all the info related to In Cold Blood to a new article?--Gkklein 20:10, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

No, it's already been split: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Cold_Blood Pepso 20:49, 30 October 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Units conversion removed from "In Cold Blood" article quote

I have removed the units conversion (1,000 acres [4 km²]) from the New York Times article quoted in the In Cold Blood section and reinserted it as a footnote below the quote. While a metric conversion is appropriate, doing so inline within the body of a verbatim quote from a primary source is improper conversion style and mis-use of the source material. Georgewilliamherbert 19:19, 1 November 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Randolph in a Mardi Gras Costume

I have read the book Other Voices Other Rooms and nowhere is it mentioned that Randolph is in a Mardi Gras costume nor is it mentioned that the lady in the window is actually Randolph (that's implied). —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 71.202.83.167 (talk) 22:48, 19 February 2007 (UTC).

[edit] Early Life Bio Issue

This sentence in the Early Life bio section doesn't make sense; "In 1933, he moved to Texarkana,TX to live with his boyfriend Drew Tank and his second husband, Dop Jones, a Cuban-born textile broker, who adopted his stepson and renamed him Truman García Capote."

Unless an eleven year old Capote actually moved to Texas to live with his boyfriend and his second husband, something here is incorrect. Obviously the intended text involves moving somewhere with his mother, but I can't figure out what is supposed to go here. Needs fixing. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by [[User:Sipfan 18:08, 28 February 2007 (UTC)|Sipfan 18:08, 28 February 2007 (UTC)]] ([[User talk:Sipfan 18:08, 28 February 2007 (UTC)|talk]] • [[Special:Contributions/Sipfan 18:08, 28 February 2007 (UTC)|contribs]]).

Actually, this sentence seems to have gotten worse as it now claims he was born in Arkansas. Could someone with knowledge of the event dive in? Sipfan 18:02, 28 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Published and other works

This table is missing the 1950 book of travel essays titled Local Color, which is the author's first published non-fiction writing. --chacal la chaise 18:39, 5 March 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Breakfast at Tiffany's

I fixed the formatting on the most recent addition to this section, but the text itself (the part beginning with "Although Breakfast at Tiffany's...") is very strange and oddly disjointed. I don't know enough about either TC or the movie to edit it, if someone else could take a look, that'd be good. Delius1967 22:46, 22 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, it is strange... just nonsensical rambling, so I deleted it. Pepso 00:42, 23 March 2007 (UTC)