Almost everyone in the world has heard of James Dean. Some know of him while others have just heard the name. Not many know that he died at the age of 24. James Dean himself told more than one of his friend that he did not expect to live past the age of thirty. He said, "What better way to die? It's fast and clean and you go out in a blaze of glory" (80 Things You Didn't Know About James Dean). Little did they know, he turned out to be right. However, before passing away at the young age of 24, James Dean lived a life in which he was certain people would remember him long after he was gone.
James Byron Dean came into this world on February 8, 1931 in Marion, Indiana. His parents, Winton Dean and Mildred Wilson had no idea the legacy their son would leave behind-or that he would leave the world so soon. His father lived a life of farming before James came along, but once he did, his dad became a dentist. Not only did he switch occupations, six years after doing so, he packed up the family and relocated them to Santa Monica, California.
As far as Dean's schooling went, he attended Brentwood Public School in Santa Monica, California. Several years later, his mother, whom he was very close to, passed away from cancer in 1940. Dean's father felt it would be good to send him back to Indiana to go live on his aunt and uncle's Quaker farm. He knew that Dean’s aunt and uncle would be better able to care for him than he could at the time. After moving back to Indiana, he was brought up under a Quaker background.
Dean was severely affected by the loss of his mother since the two of them were so close. When his mother died he said, "When she died, my life ended and all that was left was a void" (Leone 10). His loss led hi...
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...one that school children will be learning about for many years to come. As James Dean himself said, "Dream as if you'll live forever. Live as if you'll die today" (James Dean Quotes). That is exactly what James Dean did every single day of his life.
Works Cited
"80 Things You Didn't Know About James Dean." Flavorwire. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2014. .
Beath, Warren Newton. The death of James Dean. New York: Grove Press, 1986. Print.
Leone, Patricia. James Dean/The Lost Memoirs. 2009. Reprint. Bloomington: AuthorHouse, . Print.
"James Dean Biography." James Dean. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 May 2014. .
"James Dean Quotes." BrainyQuote. Xplore, n.d. Web. 17 May 2014. .
Sal explains, “When my mother was there, I was like a mirror. If she was happy, I was happy. If she was sad, I was sad. For the first few days after she left, I felt numb, non-feeling. I didn’t know how to feel”(Creech 37).
Jesse Woodson James was born on September 5, 1847 in Western Missouri. Jesse’s father, a Baptist minister, Robert Salle James and his mother Zerelda Cole. Jesse had one whole brother Frank James and other half and step siblings. Jesse’s father died when he was a young boy and his mother remarried more than once. When Jesse was 17 he married a young girl, who was also his first cousin, named Zerelda Mimms. They had 2 children, Jesse Jr. and Mary. (O’Brien)
Duke Ellington, named Edward Kennedy Ellington at birth, was born on April 29, 1899, in Washington D.C. to James Edward Ellington and Daisy Kennedy Ellington. Both of Ellington’s parents were talented, musical individuals. Edward Kennedy was later nicknamed Duke by his childhood friend, Edgar McEntire and this name has stuck with him throughout his life and career. Duke Ellington was one of Jazz and Big Band’s most influential icons. He was known for famous recordings such as “Sophisticated Lady”, "Take the A Train," "It Don't Mean a Thing If It Ain't Got that Swing," and "Satin Doll," Duke Ellington started taking piano lessons at age seven and became more serious about his piano lessons after hearing a pianist who worked at Frank Holiday’s poolroom. He was fourteen and had started sneaking into the poolroom. After listening to the poolroom’s pianist, something was ignited within and he fell in love with the piano. Ellington was known for his ability to choose members for his band who possessed very unusual talents while playing their instruments. These talents included Bubber Miley, who used a plunger to make the "wa-wa" sound, and Joe Nanton, who was known for his trombone "growl." It was for this quality to find such unusual players and his ingenious ability to compose beautiful music that lead to Ellington’s huge success. Duke Ellington composed over 1,000 compositions right up until the day he died, May 24, 1974. Although Ellington was known as a huge figure in Jazz, his music spanned beyond the Jazz genre; it stretched into blues, gospel, popular, classical and film scores. Through his efforts and achievements, he has made Jazz more accepted as an art form and genre. Ellington had received 12 Grammy awards from 1959 to 2000...
When he was fifteen years old, his mother died from appendicitis. From fifteen years of age to his college years, he lived in an all-white neighborhood. From 1914-1917, he shifted from many colleges and academic courses of study as well as he changed his cultural identity growing up. He studied physical education, agriculture, and literature at a total of six colleges and universities from Wisconsin to New York. Although he never completed a degree, his educational pursuits laid the foundation for his writing career.
Dizzy Dean was born Jay Hannah Dean in Lucas, Arkansas. His father was a farmer, and his mother died when he was young. Dean was the middle child. He had an
No black school was available locally so he was forced to move. He said "Good-bye" to his adopted parents, Susan and Moses, and headed to Newton County in southwest Missouri. Here is where the path of his education began. He studied in a one-room schoolhouse and worked on a farm to pay for it. He ended up, shortly after, moving with another family to Fort Scott in Kansas. In Kansas, he worked as a baker in a kitchen while he attended the High School. He paid for his schooling with the money he earned from winning bake-off contests. From there he moved all over bouncing from school to school. "College entrance was a struggle again because of racial barriers."2 At the age of thirty he gained acceptance to Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa.
“In 1987, James developed stomach cancer, and it took his life at the age of 63 on December 1, in his home in France” (PBS 4). Being a successful black man in the 1900s shows how smart and gifted James Baldwin was. James Baldwin claims, “Once you find yourself in another civilization, you're forced to examine your own” (PBS 4).
His parents were fed up with him and realized they had to do something to straighten him out. On June 13, 1902, his father took him to St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys. This was a reformatory and an orphanage. His father signed over custody to the Brothers, who were the Missionaries that ran the school.
Through an intimate maternal bond, Michaels mother experiences the consequences of Michaels decisions, weakening her to a debilitating state of grief. “Once he belonged to me”; “He was ours,” the repetition of these inclusive statements indicates her fulfilment from protecting her son and inability to find value in life without him. Through the cyclical narrative structure, it is evident that the loss and grief felt by the mother is continual and indeterminable. Dawson reveals death can bring out weakness and anger in self and with others. The use of words with negative connotations towards the end of the story, “Lonely,” “cold,” “dead,” enforce the mother’s grief and regressing nature. Thus, people who find contentment through others, cannot find fulfilment without the presence of that individual.
James Langston Hughes was born February 1, 1902, in Joplin , Missouri . His parents divorced when he was a small child, and his father moved to Mexico . He was raised by his grandmother until he was thirteen, when he moved to Lincoln , Illinois , to live with his mother and her husband, before the family eventually settled in Cleveland , Ohio . It was in Lincoln , Illinois , that Hughes began writing poetry. Following graduation, he spent a year in Mexico and a year at Columbia University . During these years, he held odd jobs as an assistant cook, launderer, and a busboy, and travelled to Africa and Europe working as a seaman. In November 1924, he moved to Washington , D.C. Hughes's first book of poetry, The Weary Blues, was published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1926. He finished his college education at Lincoln University in Pennsylvania three years later. In 1930 his first novel, Not Without Laughter, won the Harmon gold medal for literature.
Byron was born on January 22, 1788 in London, England. He was the son of Captain John Byron and Catherine Gordon (Magill 312). His father had a daughter from a previous marriage, named Augusta. Byron was born with a clubbed right foot, which gave him a limp every time he walked for the rest of his life. His father was greedy and sought out money from all of his wives, so in 1789 Byron moved with his mother to Aberdeen. He grew up with a rough childhood, being abused by his mother often. However, he found help when he began reading the Bible and developed a love for history. This eventually led to his ideas for writing and his journeys across the globe (“Lord”).
Edward Alexander Crowley was born October 12, 1875 in Leamington, Warwickshire, England. His parents, Edward Crowley and Emily Bertha Bishop, raised Crowley in a stringent atmosphere influenced by devoted Victorian and devout religious values. First a successful brewer, his father later became a staunch preacher before his death by cancer when Crowley was only eleven years old. Crowley was a rebellious and oppositional child, and these traits remained with him throughout the years and into adulthood.
On February 8, 1931, James Bryon Dean was born to Winton and Mildred Dean in Marion, Indiana. Dean was extremely close with his mother, who referred to him as James Bryon. On June 7, 1935 Dean's family moved to California when James was only five. On April 14, 1940 Dean lost his mother to cancer. He was then sent by his father to Indiana to live on a farm with his aunt and uncle, Marcus and Orlense Winslow at the young age of nine. He was filled with great grief over his mother's death for the rest of his life. Years later in an interview Dean stated, "My mother died on me when I was nine years old. What does she expect me to do? Do it alone?" When Dean entered high school, his strong points were debate and drama. On April 14, 1949 the Fairmont News read, "James Dean First Place Winner in Dramatic Speaking." He also graduated high school in June of that same year. Dean then moved back to California and attended Santa Monica City College and lived with his father and step mother, where he majored in prelaw. Dean earned Cs and Ds in law classes, but As and Bs in acting. That following year, he transferred to the University of California to study theatre, but he later quit school to get as many auditions as possible, and at this time he worked as a parking lot attendant. His first professional acting role was in a soft drink commercial, which lead to a role as John the Baptist, in a television Easter special called "Hill Number One."
Hughes was born in Joplin, Missouri on February 1, 1902. He was born into a black family of abolitionists and his parents were both bookkeepers. When Hughes was young his parents separated, causing his father to move to Mexico and his mother to leave him for quite a while in search of a steady job. Hughes could never call a place ?home? for too long because he was always moving from one place to another or living with different family members and friends. This constant movement affected his writing because he learned about many different people and life styles from the places he lived.
Langston Hughes was born February 01, 1902 in Joplin, Mississippi. His full name is not for sure and is either James Langston Hughes or James Mercer Langston. Langston began his career as a writer in high school. He lived in Lawrence, Kansas with his grandmother and after high school moved to Mexico with his father for a short period of time. Hughes attended Columbia University as well as Lincoln University after completing high school. He earned a scholarship to Lincoln University in Oxford, Pennsylvania where he received Bachelor of Arts degree. After earning his college he degree he began his professional career as a