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Person Detail: James Agee

General Information:
Full Name: James Agee
Biography:
(1909-1955) Journalist, novelist, screenwriter, writer. In 1932, upon graduation from Harvard (where he studied writing), he came to New York City and was hired by "Fortune Magazine." In 1936, "Fortune" asked Agee and photographer Walker Evans to go to Alabama and do a photo-story on tenant farming. When Agee finally finished the project more than three years later, he had channeled enough of his sensibility into the subject to produce one large book, "Let Us Now Praise Famous Men" (1941), a book about three tenant farmers. While he was at work on the book, Agee began reviewing books for "Time," and eventually reviewed movies. In 1941 he also began writing a weekly column on film for the "Nation," and he wrote extensively on movies until 1948. He co-authored "The African Queen" (1951) with John Huston. He published a novel "The Morning Watch" (1951). In the 50's Agee's heart problems began to grow more frightening and recurrent. Agee died of a heart attack in a taxicab in New York City in 1955. Agee lived in different areas, 121 Leroy Street, 38 Perry Street, 172 Bleecker Street, and 16 King Street, all in Greenwich Village, New York; but mostly Bleecker Street. He owned a farm in Hillsdale for the last 9 years of his life. He died in New York City but was buried a few miles from his farm. Works: "A Death in the Family" (1957; Pulitzer Prize), "Agee on Film" (1958-60).
Life Events:
Year: 1909 Event: BIRTH (Unknown) County
James Rufus Agee was born in Knoxville, Tennessee in 1909. 
Year: 1934 Event: LITWORK (Unknown) County
Permit Me Voyage
Collection of poems. 
Year: 1941 Event: LITWORK (Unknown) County
Let Us Now Praise Famous Men
(Pub: Houghton Mifflin ISBN: )
Prose commentary. 
Year: 1946 Event: OTHER Columbia County
Agee owned a farm in Hillsdale, New York for the last 9 years of his life. He died in New York City but was buried a few miles from farm.  
Year: 1951 Event: LITWORK (Unknown) County
The Morning Watch
(Pub: Houghton Mifflin ISBN: )
Novel. 
Year: 1951 Event: LITWORK (Unknown) County
The African Queen
Screenplay co-authored with John Huston. 
Year: 1955 Event: DEATH New York County
James Agee died in New York City in 1955. 
Year: 1955 Event: LITWORK (Unknown) County
The Night of the Hunter
Screenplay. 
Year: 1957 Event: LITWORK (Unknown) County
A Death in the Family
Autobiographical novel and Pulitzer Prize winner. 
Year: 1958 Event: LITWORK (Unknown) County
Agee on Film
Criticism. 
Year: 1962 Event: LITWORK (Unknown) County
Letters of James Agee to Father Flye
Collection of letters. 
Year: 1968 Event: LITWORK (Unknown) County
Collected Poems
Poetry. 
Year: 1969 Event: LITWORK (Unknown) County
Collected Short Prose
 
Year: ? Event: RESIDENCE New York County
Agee lived and worked in New York City. 
Year: ? Event: INTERMENT Columbia County
James Agee was buried a few miles from his farm near Hillsdale, New York. 

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