Tennessee Williams
Tennessee Williams: The Night of the Iguana
On March 26, 1911, Thomas Lanier Williams is born in Columbus, Mississippi. He?s the second child and first son of Cornelius Coffin Williams, and Edwina Dakin Williams. Tennessee?s father is a traveling shoe salesman, and due to his frequent absences, his mother and sister Rose live with his maternal grandparents Reverend and Walter E. Dakin in the rectory of St. Paul?s Episcopal Church. (Falk 22-23)
When Tom was three a nearly fatal attack of diphtheria leaves Tom an invalid for almost two years, during which time he relies heavily on the life of the imagination, fueled by the attentions of his mother, grandmother, sister, and Ozzie. Ozzie is a black nursemaid and teller of supernatural tales, who lives with family until Tom is six. (Leverich 72)
At the age of eleven, Tom?s mother buys him a second-hand typewriter. He begins writing stories as a ?compensation? for his discovery of snobbery in ?middle
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American life.? When he was fifteen he won five dollars for his entry in an essay contest, ?Can a Good Wife be a Good Sport? The next month he wins ten dollar from Loew?s State Theatre
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