The Writing Shows Up

For James Baldwin’s 100th birthday, Cherith King reflects on the literary giant’s everlasting charm.

By Cherith KingAugust 14, 2024

AFTER 100 YEARS, James Baldwin remains evergreen. August 2 marked the writer’s centennial, and this summer we’re rightly celebrating the man who, over the course of his lifetime, accumulated numerous titles: novelist, essayist, and activist, all of which he possessed with a mastery that very few achieve.

Despite his prolific and varied career, Baldwin evidently found the time and energy to be just as acutely thoughtful in his private life. He was often trading letters with friends, family, peers, and mentors. Amid the surging acclaim of If Beale Street Could Talk (1974), Baldwin thanked his high school English teacher, Abel Meeropol, for nurturing his writing. He regularly corresponded with Maya Angelou, who remembered him as her “brother” and credited him as one of her motivations to write I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings (1969). Baldwin was the dearest of friends with the most influential voices of his time, most notably Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, Toni Morrison, Nina Simone, and Marlon Brando, to name a few. Baldwin was many things for many people, but his lesser-known yet equally interesting role was that of the instructor.

In a 2012 essay for the Los Angeles Review of Books, Matthew Specktor recounts his time enrolled in Baldwin’s writing workshop at Mount Holyoke College in 1985. Interestingly, Baldwin barely showed up to class, but when he did, his influence had its effect. In their first encounter, Specktor writes: “I was charmed, by someone whose charm felt general. He took me in, by which I mean turned those bulbous eyes in my direction, and then introduced himself finally. It was an intimate moment without any intimacy in it. I’m not sure I’ve ever mattered less to another human being.”

For Specktor, the class itself was a lackluster experience, but Baldwin’s mentorship revealed itself to him, as it has for millions, in a separate sacred space: his novels. As Specktor notes, “The writing itself shows up.” The essence of Specktor’s essay is not a significant knock to Baldwin’s reputation as an instructor—it is a testimony to the consistent promise of Baldwin’s writing to enter the soul. So, if you haven’t yet, do yourself a favor and let Baldwin in; he’ll charm you, I’m sure.