James Lord (author)
James Lord | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 27, 1922 Englewood, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Died | August 23, 2009 (aged 86) Paris, France |
| Occupation(s) | Writer, essayist |
| Partner | Gilles Roy-Lord |
James Lord (November 27, 1922 – August 23, 2009) was an American writer. He was the author of several books, including critically acclaimed biographies of Alberto Giacometti and Pablo Picasso.[1][2] He appeared in the documentary films Balthus Through the Looking Glass (1996) and Picasso: Magic, Sex, Death (2001).
Life and career
Lord was born in Englewood, New Jersey, and grew up there, the son of Louise and Albert Lord.[1] His father was a stockbroker, and until the Wall Street crash the family lived, as Lord put it, in "the lower echelons of the upper classes".[2] He graduated from Englewood School for Boys (now Dwight-Englewood School) in 1940.[3]
Lord attended Wesleyan University, though he never earned a degree. He served in the United States Army during World War II, keeping his homosexuality carefully hidden.[4][5]
Lord died of a heart attack in Paris, at the age of 86.[2]
In popular culture
The 2017 movie Final Portrait retells the story of his friendship with the painter Alberto Giacometti. Lord is played by Armie Hammer.
Selected bibliography
Biographies and novels
- No Traveler Returns. John Day Company. 1956. ASIN B002DGC9J4.
- The Joys of Success. John Day Company. 1958. ASIN B0007E5806.
- A Giacometti Portrait. Forgotten books. 1965. ISBN 978-1528340182.
- Giacometti: A Biography. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1985. ISBN 978-0374525255.
- Picasso and Dora: A Personal Memoir. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. 1993. ISBN 978-0297813835.
- Six Exceptional Women. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1994. ISBN 978-0374528362.
- Making Memoirs. Elysium Press. 1995. ISBN 978-0964039940.
- Some Remarkable Men. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1996. ISBN 978-0374266554.
- A Gift for Admiration. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 1998. ISBN 978-0374281922.
- Stories of Youth. Elysium Press. 2001.
- My Queer War. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. 2010. ISBN 978-0374532758.
Essays
- "Regard vers l'invisible". Derrière le miroir. No. 226. Paris: Maeght. December 1977. ISBN 2-85587-038-0.
References
- ^ a b Hawtree, Christopher (September 24, 2009). "Obituary for James Lord". The Guardian.
- ^ a b c Grimes, William (August 27, 2009). "James Lord, Biographer and Memoirist, Is Dead at 86". The New York Times.
- ^ Distinguished Alumni Award, Dwight-Englewood School. Accessed June 14, 2018.
- ^ Perl, Jed (May 28, 2010). "Finding His Way to Paris". The New York Times.
- ^ "Lord writes about 'the inconvenience of being queer' during the Second World War with unsparing bravery.", My Queer War (excerpt of a review on the back cover), Farrar, Straus and Giroux: New York (2010); ISBN 978-0-374-21748-8 (hardcover).
External links
- James Lord's papers. General Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
| People | |
| Other | |
- 1922 births
- 2009 deaths
- American male non-fiction writers
- Dwight-Englewood School alumni
- Gay writers
- LGBT writers from the United States
- LGBT people from New Jersey
- People from Englewood, New Jersey
- Wesleyan University alumni
- Disease-related deaths in France
- 20th-century American biographers
- 20th-century male writers