Ambassador Book Award
1 appearances
-
Edition 8 (1993) Winner
Joseph Quincy Mitchell
ジョセフ・クインシー・ミッチェル
Joseph Quincy Mitchell
Profile
- Gender
- Male
- Born
- 1908-07-27 （near Fairmont, North Carolina, U.S.）
- Died
- 1996-05-24 （Manhattan, New York City, U.S. (Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center)） age 87
- Nationality
- United States
- Languages
- English
- Religion
- Baptist (family background)
- Residence History
- North Carolina (birth and childhood) → Durham, North Carolina (early reporting work) → New York City (long-term residence and workplace)
Career
- Occupations
- Writer, Journalist (nonfiction)
- Active Years
- 1929-1996
- Affiliations
- The New Yorker (staff/contributor), Gypsy Lore Society (board member)
- Memberships
- South Street Seaport Museum (founder/participant), New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (served)
- Influenced By
- E. B. White, St. Clair McKelway
- Influenced
- William Zinsser, Gay Talese, Thomas Kunkel
Education
| Institution | Faculty | Department | Degree | Period | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | Journalism (attended) | Journalism/Reporting | — | 1925–（中途退学） | United States |
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Journalism (attended)
/ Journalism/Reporting
Period:
1925–（中途退学）
Country:
United States
Attended as a journalism major, wrote for campus publications; did not complete degree.
Awards
| Year | Award | Work | Category | Organization | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame (posthumous) | — | — | North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame | 選出（追贈） |
| 2008 | Selected by The Library of America (anthology inclusion) | "Execution" (short piece) | — | Library of America | 選出 |
North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame (posthumous)
1997
Organization:
North Carolina Literary Hall of Fame
Result:
選出（追贈）
Selected by The Library of America (anthology inclusion)
2008
Work:
"Execution" (short piece)
Organization:
Library of America
Result:
選出
Awards & Nominations
Works
Major Works
Up in the Old Hotel and Other Stories
1992 Essay/nonfiction (character studies)A collection of New Yorker pieces focused on the Fulton Fish Market and related New York characters — portraits of people and places, and meditations on time and change.
Character studyNew York landscapeTime and passing
Translations
- Up in the Old Hotel (Japanese translation title)
Mr. Hunter's Grave
1956 Nonfiction (profile)A celebrated New Yorker profile of George Hunter and the Sandy Ground community in Staten Island; an elegiac piece about memory, place, and ordinary lives.
RemembranceCommunityLocal history
Dragger Captain
1947 Nonfiction (maritime profile)A two-part New Yorker profile following dragger boat captain Ellery Thompson of Stonington, Connecticut — a portrait of a seafaring working man.
Sea and laborGenerational memory
Joe Gould's Secret
1965 Nonfiction (biographical/longform)An expanded work about Joe Gould, exploring his claim to be writing an enormous 'Oral History of Our Time' and the meaning of that project; blends profile, memoir, and cultural portrait.
BiographyWriter's blockUrban outsiders
Adaptations
- [Film] Joe Gould's Secret / Stanley Tucci (2000)
Translations
- Joe Gould's Secret (Japanese translation title)
Bibliography
- My Ears Are Bent (1938)
- McSorley's Wonderful Saloon (1943)
- Old Mr. Flood (1948)
- The Bottom of the Harbor (1959)
- Joe Gould's Secret (1965)
- Up in the Old Hotel and Other Stories (1992)
Adaptations
- Film 'Joe Gould's Secret' (2000), dir. Stanley Tucci
Translations of Works
- Joe Gould's Secret (Japanese translation)
Style & Themes
- Literary Style
- Meticulous, observant character portraitsConcise yet lyrical nonfiction proseReporting style that emphasizes anecdote and dialogue
- Recurring Motifs
- Waterfronts and fish marketsPassage of time and memoryMarginalized, ordinary peopleCemeteries and decaying urban places
Health
-
Depression生涯を通じて（特に晩年に顕在化）Contributed to long periods of reduced publication and social withdrawal
-
Lung cancer (metastasized to brain)1995–1996Contributed to death in 1996
Legacy
Joseph Mitchell is celebrated for intimate, finely observed portraits of New York's ordinary and marginal characters, elevating literary journalism. His work influenced generations of nonfiction writers, though questions about factual shaping and embellishment have complicated his legacy.
Academic Societies
- Gypsy Lore Society (involved)
Archives
- New York Public Library, Manuscripts and Archives Division (Joseph Mitchell papers)
- Floyd Memorial Cemetery (Fairmont)
In Popular Culture
- Depicted in the film 'Joe Gould's Secret' (2000)
- Appears as a character in the indie game 'The Blackwell Series'
- Referenced in the final episode of the HBO drama 'The Wire'
Quotes
-
"Each morning, he stepped out of the elevator with a preoccupied air, nodded wordlessly... and closed himself in his office. When the end of the day came, he went home. Sometimes, in the evening elevator, I heard him emit a small sigh, but he never complained, never explained."
Source: Roger Angell (colleague), recollection (1996)
Trivia
- Placed third in a clam-eating contest on Block Island in 1937 (ate 84 cherrystone clams).
- After 1964 he published very little, though he left hundreds of pages of unpublished manuscripts.
- Known for wearing a natty brown fedora and a tan raincoat.
- Daughters had a line from Shakespeare's Sonnet 73 inscribed on his gravestone.