Special Collections Department
Lyle Bongé
- James Leo Herlihy
Correspondence
1968 - 1993
Manuscript Collection Number: 454
Accessioned: Purchased, November
2002
Extent: .6 linear ft.
Content: Letters, postcards, photographs,
news clippings
Access: The collection is open for research.
Processed: November 2002 by
Gerald Cloud
Special Collections, University of Delaware Library
Newark, Delaware 19717-5267
(302) 831-2229
Table of Contents
Biographical Note
James Leo Herlihy
The American novelist and playwright James Leo Herlihy was born in Detroit, Michigan, on February 27, 1927; he died in Los Angeles, October 21, 1993. After leaving high school, Herlihy enlisted in the Navy in 1945, receiving his overseas orders just two days before the end of World War II. From 1947-48, with money from the G.I. Bill, Herlihy attended Black Mountain College in North Carolina, a small, experimental institution whose faculty included Merce Cunningham, John Cage, William De Kooning, and other innovative figures in the arts. At Black Mountain Herlihy studied art, music, and literature, sharing an attic dorm with Arthur Penn and Lyle Bongé.
Herlihy formed strong relationships in the Black Mountain community, and his friendships with such figures as Anais Nin and the poet/potter M. C. Richards would provide inspiration and support in his future creative endeavors. Herlihy made his start in the theater when he moved to California and attended the Pasadena Playhouse College from 1948-1950. Over the next four years, Herlihy performed in about fifty plays in theaters along the West Coast. In the early sixties, he became a member of the Theater Company of Boston, and he continued acting, off and on, throughout his life. Some highlights of his theatrical career included roles in Edward Albee’s Zoo Story (which he performed in Paris and Boston in 1963) and in the film Four Friends (1982).
The Pasadena Playhouse also produced Herlihy’s first plays: Streetlight Sonata (1950) and Moon in Capricorn (1953). In 1953, Herlihy collaborated with his teacher William Noble on the play Blue Denim, which had a successful run on Broadway in 1958 and was adapted into a film in 1959. From 1953-1958, Herlihy wrote scripts for television. In 1959, he directed Tallulah Bankhead in a touring production of his play Crazy October. A trio of Herlihy’s one-act plays, collected under the title Stop You’re Killing Me (1970), included Terrible Jim Fitch (produced in 1965), Bad Bad Jo-Jo (produced in 1969), and Laughs, Etc. (produced in 1973).
Herlihy was also successful as a fiction writer. In 1952, the Paris Review published a short story that would become the title work of his 1959 collection, The Sleep of Baby Filbertson and Other Stories. His first novel, All Fall Down (1960), was followed by Midnight Cowboy (1965). This latter work was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film, and much of Herlihy’s lasting fame is based on the film’s popularity. Herlihy is also the author of a collection of short stories and plays, A Story That Ends in a Scream and Eight Others (1967), and a novel about a young teenage runaway, The Season of the Witch (1971).
Beginning in the late 1960s Herlihy taught acting and writing at many institutions, including playwriting courses at City College, New York (1967-68), and he served as distinguished visiting professor at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, in 1983.
Herlihy traveled extensively throughout the United States and Europe, but lived for much of his life in Los Angeles, California. He also resided in Key West, Florida, in the late sixties and early seventies, and in New York City during various intervals.
Lyle Bongé
The photographer, artist, and sailor Lyle Bongé was born November 5, 1929 [cf. letter dated 5 Nov 1987, F17], the son of Dusti Bongé (b. 1903- ), the Southern abstract painter. Originally from Biloxi, Mississippi, Bongé attended Black Mountain College in North Carolina, where he studied art and shared a dormitory with James Leo Herlihy. Bongé has published two photographic collections, The Sleep of Reason: Lyle Bongé’s Ultimate Ash-Hauling Mardi Gras Photographs (1974) and The Photographs of Lyle Bongé (1982). His Mardi Gras photographs are characterized by a close-up intimacy, which tames the wildness of the New Orleans festival, while his landscapes and cityscapes combine strong lines with hallucinogenic abstractions. More recently, Bongé’s art work has extended to metal sculpture and pottery.
Bongé is also an accomplished sailor and boat-maker, and in 1968 he set a world record for a single-handed crossing of the Gulf of Mexico. During the early 1980s he left Biloxi for New York City, where he lived for several years before returning to the Gulf Coast and sailing. His other activities included remodeling old houses, landscaping, cooking, and he also served as director of a family bank in Mississippi.
Sources:
Bongé, Lyle. "Obituary: James Leo Herlihy." The Independent (London), 29 Oct., 1993: 16.
Kendle, Burton S. "James Leo Herlihy," Contemporary American Dramatists. Ed. K.A. Berney. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994. pp. 261-265.
"James Leo Herlihy, 66, Novelist who wrote Midnight Cowboy." New York Times, 22 Oct., 1993: B9.
Olendorf, Donna, ed. Contemporary Authors. Volume.143. Detroit: Gale Research Co, 1994: 191.
Roberts, Gregory. "A Sailor and the Sea." The Times-Picayune, Dixie Magazine, 1 July, 1984: 6-10.
Note: Biographical information also derived from the collection.
Scope and Content Note
The correspondence of James Leo Herlihy and Lyle Bongé spans the dates 1968 – 1993. The majority of the letters in the collection were written by Bongé (indicated “LB to JH” in the finding aid), but a significant number of Herlihy’s letters are present, providing a consistent sense of the dialogue between the two lifelong friends.
The letters are arranged chronologically, with the exception of a few undated letters and fragments and a small number of letters between other correspondents, which are housed separately at the end of the collection. Also included in the collection are several notes and cards from Herlihy’s desk.
Although the letters begin in 1968, Herlihy’s and Bongé’s friendship dates from their days as dormitory-mates at Black Mountain College during the late 1940s, and their letters are personal and intimate. The general topic of discussion includes the various projects and activities of each correspondent and news of their mutual acquaintances. Art and literature are frequently mentioned by both writers and the overall collection provides a good sense of each correspondent’s ideas and philosophies on these topics. The other dominant topics include financial advice and money concerns, daily and family life, travel plans and experiences. The later letters, most of which were written by Bongé, are dominated by a passion for sailing, appreciation of good food and cooking, opinions on financial matters, and, of great interest to both correspondents, sex.
The general tone of the correspondence is upbeat and displays the strong bond of friendship that existed between Bongé and Herlihy. The correspondence runs until the month before Herlihy’s death and the collection’s final letter reflects on mortality and the physical and mental decline that comes with age and disease.
Related Collections:
Ms 344 James Leo Herlihy Papers
Ms 163 Paul Bowles Papers
Contents List
Box -- Folder -- Contents
Herlihy – Bongé Correspondence
1 F1 1968 Tuesday TLS 2p LB to JH
1969 Jan 10 TLS 1p
Jan 19 TLS 1p
Aug 11 TLS 1p
Aug 11 TLS 1p
n.d. TLS 1p
n.d. TLS 1p
n.d. TLS(x) 1p LB to JH
F2 1970 Jul 1 TLS 1p
Nov 23 TLS 1p
F3 1971 Jul 22 ALS 1p
Nov 21 TLS 1p
[1972] Jul 12 TLS 1p LB to JH
F4 1973 Jan 31 ALS 1p
Feb 22 ALS 1p
Apr 25 ALS 1p
May 5 ALS 2p
Dec 8 ACS 1p
n.d. TLS 1p
n.d. TLS 3p LB to JH
F5 1974 Mar 27 ALS 2p
[Nov] TLS(x) 2p LB to JH
n.d. ALS(x) 1p LB to JH
F6 1975 Apr 5 TLS 1p
Jun 8 ALS 1p
n.d. TLS 1p LB to JH
Includes photocopy of “The Banshees” 12pp.
Aug 14 TLS 1p
Aug 17 ALS 1p
Sep 24 ALS 1p (with envelope)
Oct 26 TLS 1p
Nov 30 ALS 1p
F7 1976 Aug 16 TLS 2p
[Nov 12-3] TLS 3p LB to JH
Includes photocopy of the letter with autograph notes
F8 1977 Jan 11 TLS 1p
Jan 20 TLS 2p LB to JH
Mar 23 TLS 2p LB to JH
May 6 TLS 2p
n.d. TLS 3p LB to JH
June ALS 3p (with envelope)
Includes letter and envelope from Henry Faulkner to JH:
Jun 8 ALS 5p Faulkner to JH
n.d. TLS 3p LB to JH
Aug 3 TLS 1p
Aug 10 TLS 2p LB to JH
Sep 26 TLS 1p
F9 1978 Nov 13 TLS 1p
[Sep 9] TLS 1p (with envelope)
1979 Feb 19 TLS 1p (with envelope)
Jul 31 ALS 1p (with envelope)
n.d. TLS 1p LB to JH
Oct TLS 1p LB to JH
Nov 24 ALS 3p
1 F10 1980 Feb 18 ALS 1p
Feb ALS 1p (with envelope)
Jul 2 ALS 3p
Jul 30 TLS 1p (with envelope)
F11 1981 Feb 28 TL(c) 1p LB to JH
Mar 5 TLS 3p (with envelope)
Includes 1p “excerpt from letter to Thygesen, March 5”
May 12 TLS 1p
Jun 10 TLS 2p LB to JH
n.d. ALS 2p LB to JH
Sep 1 TLS 1p (with envelope)
Dec 1 ALS 3p (with envelope)
F12 1982 (?) TLS 1p LB to JH
Feb 25 ALS 1p (with envelope)
Feb TLS 2p LB to JH
Mar 18 TLS 2p (with envelope)
Includes Bongés’s “Lessons for Myself 1968.”
Mar 26 TLS 2p LB to JH
Includes photocopied article on Bongé.
Mar 26 TLS 1p LB to JH
May 25 ACS 1
Jun 21 TLS 2p LB to JH
Oct 26 TLS 2p
Sunday TLS 2p LB to JH
Sep 24-5 TLS 2p LB to JH
n.d. TLS 2p LB to JH
F13 1983 Jul 31 TLS 2p
Aug 13 TLS 3p
Aug 30 TLS 4p LB to JH
Aug 31 TLS 2p LB to JH
Sep 16 TLS 2p LB to JH
Sep 17 TLS 1p
Dec 23 TLS 2p
Late Dec TLS 3p LB to JH
Friday TLS 2p LB to JH
n.d. TLS 3p LB to JH
n.d. TLS(x) 2p LB to JH
F14 1984 Monday TLS 2p LB to JH
Includes “Life in the Institution” 2p
Apr 25 TLS 2p LB to JH
May 17 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jun 1 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jul 4 TLS 1p LB to JH
Includes news clipping from Dixie magazine
n.d. TLS 2p LB to JH
Nov 8 TLS 2p LB to JH
Dec 8 TLS 1p LB to JH
F15 1985 Jan 8 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jan 23 TLS 2p (with envelope)
Jan 30 TLS 2p LB to JH
Includes photocopy.
Feb 3 TLS 2p LB to JH
Mar 5-12 TLS 4p LB to JH
May 4 TLS 4p LB to JH
Includes 2p photocopy of “Zeroes Above”
May 27-Jun 6 TLS 1p LB to JH
Jun 6 or 7 TLS 5p LB to JH
Jul 1 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jul 25 TLS 2p LB to JH
Aug 5 TLS 2p LB to JH
Aug 8 TLS 2p LB to JH
Sep 12 TLS 2p LB to JH
Oct 7 TLS 4p LB to JH
Nov 10 TLS 2p LB to JH
Nov 15 TLS 2p
Nov 26 TLS 2p LB to JH
F16 1986 Jan 1 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jan 11 TLS(x) 2p LB to JH
Jan 26 TLS 2p LB to JH
Feb 7 TLS 2p
Feb 21 TLS 2p LB to JH
Mar 19 TLS 1p LB to JH
Mar 27 TLS 2p LB to JH
Apr 14 TLS 1p LB to JH
Apr 24 TLS 1p
Apr 28 or 29 TLS 2p LB to JH
May 26 TLS 2p LB to JH
Late May TLS 2p (with envelope)
Jun 10 or 11 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jul 6 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jul 25 TLS 2p LB to JH
Aug 1 TLS 3p (with envelope)
Aug 3 TLS 2p LB to JH
Aug 7 TLS(x) 1p LB to JH
Aug 14 TLS 1p
Sep 3 or 4 TLS 2p LB to JH
Sep 16 TLS 4p LB to JH
Sep 30 ACS 1p (with envelope and 5 photographs)
Oct 6 TLS 3p LB to JH
Nov 3 ACS 1p
Nov 17 ACS 1p (with envelope)
Dec 12 TLS 3p
Dec 25 TLS 2p LB to JH
F17 1987 n.d. TLS 2p LB to JH
Jan 11 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jan 27 TLS 1p
Feb 1 TLS 3p LB to JH
Feb 21 TLS(x) 2p LB to JH
Mar 22 TLS 1p (with envelope)
Mar 27 TLS 2p LB to JH
Apr 12 TLS 2p LB to JH
May 3 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jun 12 TLS 2p
Jun 25 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jul 23 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jul 26 TLS 4p
Jul 31 TLS 4p LB to JH
Aug 22 TLS 2p LB to JH
Aug 25 TLS 2p
Aug 28 TLS/ALS 1p
Sep 3 TLS 2p LB to JH
Sep 27 TLS 2p
Oct TLS 5p LB to JH
Oct 19 TLS 2p LB to JH
Oct 29 TLS 3p
Nov 5 TLS 1p LB to JH
[Nov 16] TLS 3p LB to JH
Nov 20 TLS 2p
Dec 25 TLS 2p LB to JH
n.d. TLS 1p LB to JH
n.d. ALS 2p LB to JH
Monday TLS(x) 1p LB to JH
2 F18 1988 Jan 8 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jan 9 TLS 2p
Mar 11 TLS 2p (with envelope)
Mar 14 TL 2p LB to JH
Mar 21 TLS 2p
Arp 7 TLS 4p LB to JH
Apr 8 TLS 4p
Apr 25 TLS 2p LB to JH
May 22 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jun 3 ALS 2p (with envelope)
Jun 8 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jul 5 TLS 2p
Jul 11 TLS 3p LB to JH
Includes 1p fragment TL(x)
Jul 14 TLS 1p LB to JH
Jul 23 TLS 3p (with envelope)
Jul 28 TLS 3p LB to JH
Aug 4 TLS 1p LB to JH
Aug 4 or 5 TLS 1p LB to JH
Aug 5 TLS 2p
Aug 6 TLS 3p LB to JH
Aug 9 TLS 1p LB to JH
Aug 21 TLS(x) 2p LB to JH
Aug 22 TLS 2p LB to JH
Aug 30 TLS 2p (with envelope)
n.d. TLS(x) 2p LB to JH
Sep 7 TLS 2p (with envelope)
n.d. TLS 2p LB to JH
n.d. TLS 1p LB to JH
Sep 11 TLS 1p LB to JH
Sep TLS 3p LB to JH
Sep 20 TLS 3p (with envelope)
Oct 6 TLS 2p LB to JH
Oct 8 TLS 2p LB to JH
Oct 16 TLS 1p LB to JH
Oct 17 ALS 3p (with envelope)
Includes TLS 1p dated Sep 15
Oct 24 TLS 2p LB to JH
Nov 8 ALS 2p (with envelope)
n.d. TLS 2p LB to JH
Nov 27-9 TLS 2p LB to JH
Dec 24 TLS 2p LB to JH
n.d. TLS 2p LB to JH
n.d. TLS 1p LB to JH
F19 1989 n.d. ACS 1p
Jan 12 TLS 2p LB to JH
Mar 11 TLS 2p LB to JH
Mar 11 ALS 1p
Mar 31 TLS 2p
Apr 6 TLS 2p LB to JH
Apr 24 TLS 1p (with envelope)
May 17 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jun 2 TLS 3p LB to JH
Jun 13 TLS 2p
Jun 17 TLS 5p LB to JH
Jun 24 TLS 1p (with envelope)
n.d. TLS 1p LB to JH
Includes brochure with photo of Dusti Bongé and
biographic infomation.
Jul 7 TLS 1p LB to JH
Includes 2p letter from “Charlotte Lyle.”
Jul 26 TLS 2p LB to JH
Aug 11 TLS 3p
Aug 19 TLS 1p LB to JH
Typed on the verso of a Mississippi Museum of Art
letter announcing “The Bonges: Three Generations”
exhibition.
Sep 6 TLS 4p
Nov 7 TLS 2p LB to JH
Nov 9 TLS 1p
Nov 16 TLS 1p LB to JH
Thanksgiving TLS 2p LB to JH
Dec 4 TLS 2p LB to JH
Dec 16 or 17 TLS 2p LB to JH
F20 1990 Jan 8 TLS 1p
Feb 14 TLS 3p LB to JH
Feb 20 TLS 2p LB to JH
Mar 10 ALS 1p
Apr 16 TLS 2p LB to JH
May 14 TLS 2p LB to JH
May 17 TLS 1p
May 21 TLS 2p LB to JH (with news clipping)
May 27 TLS 2p
Jun 2 TLS 4p LB to JH
June TLS 2p
July TLS 2p LB to JH
Jul 11-2 TLS 2p LB to JH
Summer TLS 2p LB to JH
Aug 18 TLS 2p LB to JH
Sep 6 TLS 4p
Sep 10 TLS 4p LB to JH
Sep 13-4 TLS 2p LB to JH
September TLS 3p LB to JH
Oct 1 TLS 3p (with envelope)
Oct 2 TLS 2p (with envelope)
Oct 13 TLS 4p (with envelope)
Oct 17 TLS(x) 2p LB to JH
Oct 26 ACS 1p
Nov 10 TLS 2p LB to JH
November ALS 3p
Dec 9 ALS 3p LB to JH
Dec 23 TLS 1p LB to JH
Dec 26 TLS 2p (with envelope)
F21 1991 Jan 5 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jan 18 TLS 1p LB to JH
n.d. TLS 1p
Jan 27 ALS 1p (with envelope)
Feb 3 TLS 3p (with envelope)
Mar TLS 2p LB to JH
Mar 16 TLS 2p LB to JH
Apr 2 TLS 1p (with envelope)
Apr 21 TLS 4p LB to JH
May 6-7 TLS 3p
May 11 TLS 4p LB to JH
Jun 17 TLS(x) 2p LB to JH
Jun 28 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jul 6 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jul 27 TLS 2p (with envelope)
Aug TLS 4p LB to JH
Aug 7 TLS 1p LB to JH
Aug 21 TLS 2p
Aug 30 TLS 3p LB to JH
Sep 12 TLS 1p LB to JH
Sep 17 TLS(x) 1p LB to JH
Sep 22 TLS 3p
[Sep] 29-30 TLS(x) 3p LB to JH
Nov 8 TLS 1p
Nov 21 TLS(x) 1p LB to JH
Dec 9 TLS 2p (with envelope)
Dec 13 TLS 2p LB to JH
Dec 22 TL 1p
Dec 28 TLS 1p (with envelope and news clipping)
1 F22 1992 Jan 4 TLS 4p LB to JH
Jan 13 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jan 22 TLS 2p with 1p ACS
Jan 26 TLS 2p LB to JH
Feb 1 TLS 1p LB to JH
Feb 2 or 3 TLS 2p LB to JH
Feb 15 TLS 1p LB to JH
Feb [20] TLS 2p LB to JH
Apr 7 TLS 1p LB to JH
Apr 8 TLS 5p LB to JH
May 10 TLS(x) 2p LB to JH
May 15 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jun 12 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jun 26 ACS 1p
Jul 11 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jul TLS 4p (with envelope)
Jul 27 TLS(x) 3p LB to JH
Aug 6 TLS(x) 4p LB to JH
Aug 21 TLS 2p LB to JH
Includes undated 2p fragment and “Natasha Goldowski,” 2p.
Aug TLS 2p LB to JH
Sep 6 ALS 2p
Sep 14 TLS 1p LB to JH
Oct 2 ALS 5p
Nov 14 ALS 1p (with envelope)
Nov 20 ALS 4p
Nov TLS 2p LB to JH
Nov 27 TLS 2p LB to JH
Nov 28 ALS 1p discusses the return
of Bongé’s letters.
Nov 29 TLS(x) 5p LB to JH
Dec 9 TLS 3p
Dec 13 TLS 2p LB to JH
Dec 20 TLS 2p LB to JH
Dec 25 TLS 2p LB to JH
F23 1993 Jan 7 TLS 2p LB to JH
Feb 12 TLS 2p LB to JH
[Feb 20] TLS 2p LB to JH
Feb 27 TLS 3p LB to JH
Feb 19 TLS 2p
Mar 7 TLS 1p LB to JH
Mar 27 TLS 2p
May 11 TLS 2p LB to JH
May TLS(x) 2p LB to JH
Jun 9 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jun 28 TL(x) 1p
Jun 13 TLS 2p LB to JH
Jul 8 TL(x) 2p LB to JH (fragment)
[Jul 10] TLS(x) 2p LB to JH
Jul 20-30 TLS 2p
Jul 19 TLS(x) 3p LB to JH
Aug 3 TLS(x) 2p LB to JH
Aug 5 TLS(x) 2p LB to JH
Aug 18 TLS(x) 1p
Aug 19 TLS(x) 4p LB to JH
[Sep 2] TLS(x)/ALS(x) 5p
Includes what may be fragments from different letters
Sep 9 TL(x) 1p LB to JH
Oct 22 Photocopy of Herlihy’s obituary from the London
Independent, written by Lyle Bongé.
F24 Undated letters and fragments, 26 items.
F25 Miscellaneous letters from other correspondents,
10 items.
F26 James Leo Herlihy desk notes, 14 items
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