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Collections
Terry Southern papers
Terry Southern papers
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Collection Data
- Description
- Terry Southern (May 1, 1924-October 29, 1995) was an American author, essayist, screenwriter and university lecturer, noted for his satirical style. The Terry Southern archive spans the years 1924 to 1995, with the bulk dated 1955 to 1995. The collection consists chiefly of autograph and typescript drafts of Southern's novels, stories, screenplays, television scripts; journals, diaries, and notebooks. Other materials include incoming and outgoing correspondence, photographs, personal and financial papers and documents (including passports, hunting license, mortgage documents, bank statements, and canceled checks), publishing contracts, newspaper clippings, and realia, including his typewriter. Also included in the archive is writing by others, including Peter Beard, William S. Burroughs, Gregory Corso, Jules Feiffer, Bruce J. Friedman, Allen Ginsberg, Henry Green, Southern's biographer Lee Hill, Mason Hoffenberg, Mick Jagger, Jonathan Marquand, George Plimpton, V.S. Pritchett, Larry Rivers, Richard Seaver, Jean Stein, Rip Torn and Alexander Trocchi, papers by his students, and dissertations and papers about his work.
- Names
- Southern, Terry (Creator)
- Beard, Peter H. (Peter Hill), 1938- (Author)
- Burroughs, William S., 1914-1997 (Author)
- Corso, Gregory (Author)
- Feiffer, Jules (Author)
- Friedman, Bruce Jay, 1930- (Author)
- Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997 (Author)
- Green, Henry, 1905-1973 (Author)
- Hill, Lee (Author)
- Jagger, Mick (Author)
- Hoffenberg, Mason (Author)
- Marquand, Jonathan (Author)
- Plimpton, George (Author)
- Pritchett, V. S. (Victor Sawdon), 1900-1997 (Author)
- Rivers, Larry, 1925-2002 (Author)
- Seaver, Richard (Author)
- Stein, Jean (Author)
- Torn, Rip, 1931- (Author)
- Trocchi, Alexander, 1925-1984 (Author)
- Dates / Origin
- Date Created: 1924 - 1995
- Library locations
- Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature
- Shelf locator: Berg Coll MSS Southern Archive
- Topics
- Counterculture -- History -- 20th century
- Counterculture -- United States -- 20th century
- Counterculture in motion pictures
- Journalism -- United States -- History -- 20th century
- LSD (Drug) -- United States
- Motion picture plays
- Beard, Peter H. (Peter Hill), 1938-
- Burroughs, William S., 1914-1997
- Gerber, Gail, 1937-
- Ginsberg, Allen, 1926-1997
- Green, Henry, 1905-1973
- Hill, Lee
- Hoffenberg, Mason
- Hopper, Dennis, 1936-2010
- Jagger, Mick
- Kubrick, Stanley
- Leary, Timothy, 1920-1996
- Marquand, Jonathan
- Plimpton, George
- Poe, Edgar Allan, 1809-1849
- Pritchett, V. S. (Victor Sawdon), 1900-1997
- Richards, Keith, 1943-
- Rivers, Larry, 1925-2002
- Seaver, Richard
- Stein, Jean
- Torn, Rip, 1931-
- Trocchi, Alexander, 1925-1984
- Genres
- Manuscripts
- Typescripts
- Diaries
- Notebooks
- Correspondence
- Photographs
- Documents
- Clippings
- Notes
- Biographical/historical: Terry Southern (1924-1995) was an American novelist, screenwriter, and essayist. Motivated by a dark comic sensibility and a delight in the outrageous, Southern's work explored the tumultuous culture of late 1950s and 1960s America. His best-known novels, the satirical Flash and Filigree (1958), Candy (1958), and The Magic Christian (1959), showcase his characteristic black humor, and in each case, follow the over-the-top journey of one or more protagonists from innocent idealist to worldly cynic. His screenplays, "Easy Rider" and "Dr. Strangelove" won acclaim for their ability to capture the rebelliousness and unease of the 1960s. Southern was born in Alvarado, Texas in 1924 and raised in nearby Dallas. In 1943, he dropped out of Southern Methodist University to enlist in the Army, and was stationed for two and a half years in Reading, England. After returning to the U. S. and graduating with a Bachelor in Science from Northwestern University in 1948, he studied at the Sorbonne for four years, where he became friends with a group of American writers and artists that included Aram Avakian, Jean Stein, Mason Hoffenberg, George Plimpton, William Styron, and Peter Matthiesen. In 1953, he returned to the U. S. and settled in Greenwich Village, embracing the Beat scene and befriending Gregory Corso, Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and the artist Larry Rivers. In 1956, Southern and his wife Carol returned to Europe, settling in Geneva (they would return to the U. S. for good in 1959 and buy a house in East Canaan, Connecticut). That same year, Southern began work on Candy, co-written with Mason Hoffenberg and inspired by Voltaire's Candide. Intended as a send-up of contemporary pornography, Candy, published in Paris by Olympia Press in 1958, was one of only a handful of books written in English and banned in France. It was published in the U. S. in 1964. Southern's Flash and Filigree was published in the U. S. in 1958 by Colum McCann; The Magic Christian followed in 1959. The latter attracted the attention of Stanley Kubrick, who invited Southern in the early sixties to collaborate on "Dr. Strangelove", a dark comedy about nuclear war. "Strangelove" established Southern as a hot screenwriter in Hollywood. Over his lifetime, he wrote or contributed to over 125 screenplays, including "The Cincinnati Kid" (1965), "The Loved One" (1965), "Barbarella" (1967), "Casino Royale" (1967), and the counterculture classic, "Easy Rider" (1968). Throughout his career, Southern contributed regularly to The Nation, Esquire, The Evergreen Review, The Paris Review, and other publications. Tom Wolfe identified Southern's essay, "Twirling at Ole Miss", written for Esquire in 1962, as the first example of the New Journalism, and it is with this style of reporting and with the work of his contemporaries Truman Capote, Joan Didion, David Halberstam, and Hunter S. Thompson that critics categorize his nonfiction.
- Content: The Berg Collection also holds materials by and about Terry Southern that were acquired through gift and purchase from various sources. Search under "Author" in NYPL's on-line classic catalog using the advanced search for "Southern Terry," as author, and then limit search to "Manuscripts" to find descriptions of manuscripts and typescripts by Southern
- Biographical/historical: Chronology: May 1, 1924: Born in Alvarado, Texas to Terrance Southern and Helen Simonds Southern. -- 1942: Transfers to Southern Methodist University. -- 1943-1945: Enlists in the U. S. Army (stationed in Reading, England). -- 1948: Graduates from Northwestern University, Chicago. -- September 1948: Moves to Paris to study at the Sorbonne on a G. I. Bill travel grant. -- 1953: Marries Pud Gadiot and moves to New York City. -- 1953: Publishes "The Accident" in inaugural issue of The Paris Review. 1954: Divorces Pud Gadiot. -- Fall 1955: Interviews Nelson Algren for The Paris Review. -- July 1956: Marries Carol Kauffman. -- October 1956: Moves to Geneva, Switzerland. -- 1956: Begins Candy; initiates a collaboration with Mason Hoffenberg on the novel. -- Fall 1958: Flash and Filigree is published by Coward McCann. -- October 1958: Candy published by Olympia Press and immediately banned by French government. -- Spring 1959: The Magic Christian is published. Moves to East Canaan Connecticut, where he buys a farm from Artie Shaw. -- Early 1960: Begins reviewing books for The Nation. -- December 29, 1960: A son, Nile, is born. -- Summer 1962: Works for Esquire as relief editor; publishes "The Road to Axotle" in Esquire and interviews Stanley Kubrick. -- November 1962: Summoned to London by Stanley Kubrick to work on the screenplay for "Dr. Strangelove. " -- 1963: Publishes "Twirlm' At Ole Miss" in Esquire. Candy is published in the U. S. and becomes the #2 fiction bestseller. -- 1964: "Dr. Strangelove" released. Hired to collaborate on "The Loved One" In August, the Southerns move to Los Angeles. -- 1964: Meets Gail Gerber; "The Cincinnati Kid" and "The Loved One" are released; The Journal of the Loved One: The Production Log of a Motion Picture is published by Random House; Works on screenplays for "Casino Royale", "Barbarella" and "Candy"; Red-Dirt Marijuana and Other Tastes is published. In November, Southern, Dennis Hopper and Henry Fonda meet in New York for brainstorming session for "Easy Rider"; Film version of "Candy" released. "Easy Rider" begins filming. Covers Democratic National Convention in Chicago for Esquire; "The Magic Christian" is filmed; Novel "Blue Movie" is published. "The End of the Road" released. -- 1972: Divorces Carol Southern. Covers The Rolling Stones Tour. In the Fall, teaches screenwriting course at Columbia. -- 1977-1978: Works on film version of Junky by William S. Burroughs (project abandoned). The Rolling Stones on Tour is published in Pans by Dragon's Dream. -- 1981-1982: Hired by "Saturday Night Live" as a writer. -- 1983: Approached to work on sequel to "Easy Rider" called "Biker Heaven. " -- 1985: Appointed as a director of Hawkeye, a production company established by Harry Nilsson. -- 1988: "The Telephone", starring Whoopi Goldberg, is released. -- 1989: Undergoes surgery for stomach cancer. -- 1992: Publishes novel Texas Summer. Teaches screen-writing at Columbia (until his death). Assists Perry Richardson with The Early Stones. -- 1995: Receives Gotham Award for lifetime achievement by the Independent Film Producers Association. -- October 29, 1995: Dies in New York at St. Luke's Hospital of respiratory failure.
- Acquisition: Acquired by the Berg Collection from the Terry Southern Estate March 17, 2003.
- Physical Description
- Extent: 95 228 manuscript boxes, 1 oversize folder
- Type of Resource
- Text
- Still image
- Three dimensional object
- Identifiers
- NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b19630471
- MSS Unit ID: 22177
- Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 712c7380-6353-0135-d850-116f42bfe3ff