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“I had
almost forgotten Boy
of the Border, but I recall now that I liked it while we
were doing [it], and I can’t imagine why it was not
published.” Those
words, written by Arna Bontemps to Langston Hughes in a
letter dated “29 August ‘55” caught the attention of
Maceo Dailey, Director of African American Studies at the
University of Texas at El Paso, in 2001 as he was reading Arna Bontemps-Langston Hughes Letters, 1925-1967, edited by Charles
Nichols.
Dailey contacted scholar and principal Hughes
biographer, Arnold Rampersad of Stanford University to
enquire about the manuscript.
Dr. Rampersad confirmed that the Boy
of the Border manuscript had never been published and
that it was reposed at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript
Library of Yale University.
A follow-up telephone call to the library resulted in
identification of the manuscript.
Being avid readers and writers themselves, Maceo and
his wife, Sondra Banfield, decided to establish a press in
2003 that would publish the writings of people of color and
women around the world.
Based on their previous entrepreneurial and
publishing experiences, much additional research into book
publishing, as well as the generous advice and guidance of
accomplished publishers, Lee, Bobby and John Byrd of Cinco
Puntos Press, the Daileys launched Sweet Earth Flying Press
LLC. (The name
of the company emanated from a poem of
Harlem Renaissance writer Jean Toomer and a jazz
composition by Marion Brown.)
The Daileys decided to seek permission to publish Boy of the Border. Professor
Rampersad directed them to literary agent Craig Tenney of
Harold Ober Associates, who represents the estates of
Alberta Bontemps (Bontemps’ wife) and Langston Hughes,
which own the rights to the manuscript.
Tenney gave the right of first refusal to the large
New York
publisher which had previously published children’s books
by Bontemps and Hughes. That publisher turned down the
invitation and the way was made for Sweet Earth Flying Press
to proceed.
Sondra Dailey contacted the Beinecke Library and
received two copies of the Boy
of the Border manuscript:
the original (written between 1939 and 1941) and the
1955 revision by Langston Hughes.
During the course of her pre-contract communications
with Tenney it was revealed that a copyright existed for the
10-page condensation entitled “Broncos Over the Border,”
that was published in the July 1956 issue of Jack
and Jill magazine.
During two research trips to Yale in 2005 and 2006,
Sondra turned up a copy of the Jack
and Jill magazine autographed by Langston Hughes and
unearthed unpublished letters between Bontemps and Hughes
which revealed interesting aspects of their collaboration in
writing Boy of the
Border. During
both trips, the library staff, and especially Leigh Golden,
were instrumental in locating and copying vital documents,
letters and photographs.
Once the publishing contract was signed in the fall
of 2006, permission was granted by the two estates and by
Photos by Griff Davis, to use two photos of Arna Bontemps
and Langston Hughes taken by renowned photographer Griffith
Davis.
Through
Sondra’s contacts, Sweet Earth Flying Press retained the
father-son team of Antonio Castro L. and Antonio Castro H.
to create the illustrations and book design.
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