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[CCBC-Net] Truman's Cousin, Jennings Carter
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From: kiffnkerry at sbcglobal.net <kiffnkerry>
Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 14:24:19 -0700 (PDT)
As I wrap up the last of these posts, I thought I would share the story of Jennings Carter with you. Growing up, Jennings Carter's nickname was "Big Boy." He was Truman Capote's first cousin, and his mother, Mary Ida Carter, was Nina Capote's (Truman's mother) younger sister. This is Jennings' story from my interview notes on April 25, 2007. Jane Ellen Clark, the curator of the Monroe County Heritage Museum, believes that "Big Boy" inspired the character of Jem Finch.
Harper Lee wrote in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem's fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom
self-conscious about his injury. He left arm was somewhat shorter than his right; when he stood or walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his thigh. He
couldn't have cared
less, so long as he could pass and punt.
This description of Jem's arm is exactly how Jennings Carter's arm looked the day I interviewed him.
JENNINGS CARTER
I don't know what I can tell you that hasn't been said.
Truman was two years older than me. He started school first, and he loved to play school. He?d be the professor and me and Nelle would sit out on the stove-wood for our desks. We were his students, and he?d pop a ruler at us if we didn?t know the answer. We played in Jenny Faulk?s yard.
I lived out in the country. I took the bus to school from out near Drury.? Truman read a lot as a kid, but he was never good at math. He knew a lot about books. His favorite was THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. He loved to tell that one to frighten us. Folks around here would hunt foxes at night and the hounds would get to howling, and Truman would say,
?The dogs are coming to get us!? He lived in a pretend world. Jenny?s hall at the Faulk house was a great big long hallway with heavy curtains at the end that we pretended was a cave. He was real mischievous.
We had these rubber-band guns made of clothespins, and once when Jenny?s back was turned, Truman shot her in the backside. When she turned around, mad, he pointed to us. We couldn?t hardly deny it because we were holding rubberband guns too. Jenny Faulk and Nelle?s mother shared a border in their yards. An apple tree was right on that border. Each lady would claim the apples, and if the apples fell on the boarder, they'd kick them over into their own yard.
We had to work in the garden, and sit and shell the butter beans. We?d all of us have a pan to shell, and Truman would switch the butter beans on us. He?d put his unshelled beans in our pan, and grab a handful of our shelled ones. So I had to watch him ? he?d switch
the
butter beans if you weren?t looking to get out of doing the work.
I liked to go hunting, and Truman would go along ? not to hunt ? but to write down notes and descriptions. He always had a little notebook with him. I was given a gun when I was twelve, and I hunted rabbits, possums, squirrels. Our family had a mule on the farm that me and Truman rode bareback. He loved that mule. He could get it to run fast. It was named Nelle. (Jennings says this with a grin.)
Truman had a superior intellectuality. He could do crossword puzzles. He had a little dictionary that Mr. Lee gave him. He loved words. He would always elaborate. Instead of saying, ?It?s gonna be hot? ? he?d something say like, ?The temperature is rising high today?note the barometer.? He liked to get fancy. Nelle and AC (Mr. Lee) loved doing crossword puzzles too.
Truman was always neater than everybody else. He'd fold his clothes and hang them up. He wasn?t a sissy growing up. He put all that stuff on later. When he
was real young, he was very athletic. He could walk on his hands, do cartwheels forwards and backwards. He could chin himself. He could reverse himself in the middle of a cartwheel and
do more chin-ups than me or Nelle.
Nelle? She was just another kid ? nothing special. She and Truman would read and tell stories. She was two years older than me. But she was absolutely courageous. The boys at school knew not to pick on us. She?d ball up her fists and hit you like a man. She broke a boy?s front tooth ? Nelle gave it to him.
Truman had a portable typewriter for writing all kinds of stories. He took typing and learned to type early. He used both hands typing. He was a great vocalist. He could make you picture things. He made us picture things when he told us THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. He was always writing little stories. He even told us some slightly pornographic stories to shock us when he was a teenager. Back then, we didn?t know Nelle was a girl. She was just one of us. Truman even wrote early versions of Sook making fruitcakes. He?d make up things and write about them. He had those stories in a trunk in
New York, but his mother, Nina, got upset with him and burned all of his early stories.
Truman was very affectionate toward my mother, Mary Ida Carter. Sook Faulk was another main anchor for him and for all of us. She was real sweet. She had a bad fever as a kid, and she just preferred to be with us kids. She didn?t much like to associate with adults. She read him the funnies and he?d correct her when she said a word wrong. She never minded when he corrected her. Her favorite comics were the THE KAJAMA KIDS in "The Mobile Press."
Like in the story, Sook did send a fruitcake to President Roosevelt, but he never wrote her back. I imagine the White House must get a lot of presents at Christmas. We were in a dry county, but Jenny Faulk kept the best whiskey was in the house. Sook never had to go to the
bootlegger. Truman made that up.
Even though I took the school bus from the country, I?d walk down to Jenny?s to get a hot dinner every day. Gladys Watson, the English teacher, lived across the street. Jenny always served meat, two vegetables, and a dessert. I guess I loved wild plumb pudding the best, but they didn?t pit the plumbs, so you had to be careful not to bite down too hard. We had thickets of plumbs, red and yellow, that grew wild. I loved blackberry pie too. The whole berry was cooked, seeds and all?
Truman was finicky eater. He was always hungry, but he wanted certain dishes. He?d get sick of collards, so Jenny tried to make something different. She'd boil fat meat (fatback) and sourbelly to give the vegetables flavor. She'd add oil to the peas and butterbeans.
Money was real tight. Jenny would try to get Truman something he wanted. She?d spoil him rotten?all the Faulks did. Truman always had a pocket full of money. He
was stingy too, but Truman's father was so stingy he squeaked. Truman loved charging things to Jenny's store account. When he emptied his pockets, he wrapped his change in a handkerchief. He?d get a dollar a week, but any spending he did he would charge to Jenny?s account. He knotted his coins up real tight in a handkerchief, and I guess because he figured he?d hear if anybody tried to untie it to get to his money.
Truman had charisma. He was a different sort of person. He liked people. Growing up, we listened to Benny Goodman. We came up in the Depression, but there was always plenty to do on the farm. We milked the cows and strained the milk. That was one of my main chores. I broke my arm by falling off the roof. It was right before school started, and I was out for so long that I just waited and started school the next year.
We liked to order a dope at the drug store. A dope is a coke, ice cream, and cherry. It cost a dime. Sook gave us
change to go to the picture show. We'd see westerns/double-features. The three of us would go together.? Sook never liked to go out. Jenny ran Faulks Mercantile and was a milliner.? Jenny also was an artist but her drawings burned in a house fire. The fire was on the coldest night of the year and the fire hose froze. It was an electrical fire. Sook lost her dog in that fire. ?
Like I said, I honestly don't know what else I can tell you that hasn't been said.
* * *
Here is a link to a picture that Jennings Carter took of Truman and Mary Ida.
http://www.southernliterarytrail.org/images/truman_capote_&_mary_ida.jpg
Jennings said he wished he'd gotten a copyright on that picture, because it's everywhere.
Here is another link
to a story of the 1959 letter (on display in Monroeville) that Truman wrote to his Aunt Mary Ida Carter.
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/contentbe/dispatch/2006/03/12/20060312-C7-00.html
OTHER LINKS TO ARTICLES:
"GREETINGS FROM MONROEVILLE" by Steve Garbarino http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/greetings-from-monroeville2/996
TO FIND A MOCKINGBIRD by Marja Mills http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/27/1040511175523.html
* * *
Thanks again for allowing me to revisit these stories and share them with you.
All best Kerry Madden
UP CLOSE: HARPER LEE
"My needs are simple: pen, paper, and privacy." Harper Lee, 1961 www.kerrymadden.com
Received on Wed 27 May 2009 04:24:19 PM CDT
Date: Wed, 27 May 2009 14:24:19 -0700 (PDT)
As I wrap up the last of these posts, I thought I would share the story of Jennings Carter with you. Growing up, Jennings Carter's nickname was "Big Boy." He was Truman Capote's first cousin, and his mother, Mary Ida Carter, was Nina Capote's (Truman's mother) younger sister. This is Jennings' story from my interview notes on April 25, 2007. Jane Ellen Clark, the curator of the Monroe County Heritage Museum, believes that "Big Boy" inspired the character of Jem Finch.
Harper Lee wrote in TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD: When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem's fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom
self-conscious about his injury. He left arm was somewhat shorter than his right; when he stood or walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his thigh. He
couldn't have cared
less, so long as he could pass and punt.
This description of Jem's arm is exactly how Jennings Carter's arm looked the day I interviewed him.
JENNINGS CARTER
I don't know what I can tell you that hasn't been said.
Truman was two years older than me. He started school first, and he loved to play school. He?d be the professor and me and Nelle would sit out on the stove-wood for our desks. We were his students, and he?d pop a ruler at us if we didn?t know the answer. We played in Jenny Faulk?s yard.
I lived out in the country. I took the bus to school from out near Drury.? Truman read a lot as a kid, but he was never good at math. He knew a lot about books. His favorite was THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. He loved to tell that one to frighten us. Folks around here would hunt foxes at night and the hounds would get to howling, and Truman would say,
?The dogs are coming to get us!? He lived in a pretend world. Jenny?s hall at the Faulk house was a great big long hallway with heavy curtains at the end that we pretended was a cave. He was real mischievous.
We had these rubber-band guns made of clothespins, and once when Jenny?s back was turned, Truman shot her in the backside. When she turned around, mad, he pointed to us. We couldn?t hardly deny it because we were holding rubberband guns too. Jenny Faulk and Nelle?s mother shared a border in their yards. An apple tree was right on that border. Each lady would claim the apples, and if the apples fell on the boarder, they'd kick them over into their own yard.
We had to work in the garden, and sit and shell the butter beans. We?d all of us have a pan to shell, and Truman would switch the butter beans on us. He?d put his unshelled beans in our pan, and grab a handful of our shelled ones. So I had to watch him ? he?d switch
the
butter beans if you weren?t looking to get out of doing the work.
I liked to go hunting, and Truman would go along ? not to hunt ? but to write down notes and descriptions. He always had a little notebook with him. I was given a gun when I was twelve, and I hunted rabbits, possums, squirrels. Our family had a mule on the farm that me and Truman rode bareback. He loved that mule. He could get it to run fast. It was named Nelle. (Jennings says this with a grin.)
Truman had a superior intellectuality. He could do crossword puzzles. He had a little dictionary that Mr. Lee gave him. He loved words. He would always elaborate. Instead of saying, ?It?s gonna be hot? ? he?d something say like, ?The temperature is rising high today?note the barometer.? He liked to get fancy. Nelle and AC (Mr. Lee) loved doing crossword puzzles too.
Truman was always neater than everybody else. He'd fold his clothes and hang them up. He wasn?t a sissy growing up. He put all that stuff on later. When he
was real young, he was very athletic. He could walk on his hands, do cartwheels forwards and backwards. He could chin himself. He could reverse himself in the middle of a cartwheel and
do more chin-ups than me or Nelle.
Nelle? She was just another kid ? nothing special. She and Truman would read and tell stories. She was two years older than me. But she was absolutely courageous. The boys at school knew not to pick on us. She?d ball up her fists and hit you like a man. She broke a boy?s front tooth ? Nelle gave it to him.
Truman had a portable typewriter for writing all kinds of stories. He took typing and learned to type early. He used both hands typing. He was a great vocalist. He could make you picture things. He made us picture things when he told us THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. He was always writing little stories. He even told us some slightly pornographic stories to shock us when he was a teenager. Back then, we didn?t know Nelle was a girl. She was just one of us. Truman even wrote early versions of Sook making fruitcakes. He?d make up things and write about them. He had those stories in a trunk in
New York, but his mother, Nina, got upset with him and burned all of his early stories.
Truman was very affectionate toward my mother, Mary Ida Carter. Sook Faulk was another main anchor for him and for all of us. She was real sweet. She had a bad fever as a kid, and she just preferred to be with us kids. She didn?t much like to associate with adults. She read him the funnies and he?d correct her when she said a word wrong. She never minded when he corrected her. Her favorite comics were the THE KAJAMA KIDS in "The Mobile Press."
Like in the story, Sook did send a fruitcake to President Roosevelt, but he never wrote her back. I imagine the White House must get a lot of presents at Christmas. We were in a dry county, but Jenny Faulk kept the best whiskey was in the house. Sook never had to go to the
bootlegger. Truman made that up.
Even though I took the school bus from the country, I?d walk down to Jenny?s to get a hot dinner every day. Gladys Watson, the English teacher, lived across the street. Jenny always served meat, two vegetables, and a dessert. I guess I loved wild plumb pudding the best, but they didn?t pit the plumbs, so you had to be careful not to bite down too hard. We had thickets of plumbs, red and yellow, that grew wild. I loved blackberry pie too. The whole berry was cooked, seeds and all?
Truman was finicky eater. He was always hungry, but he wanted certain dishes. He?d get sick of collards, so Jenny tried to make something different. She'd boil fat meat (fatback) and sourbelly to give the vegetables flavor. She'd add oil to the peas and butterbeans.
Money was real tight. Jenny would try to get Truman something he wanted. She?d spoil him rotten?all the Faulks did. Truman always had a pocket full of money. He
was stingy too, but Truman's father was so stingy he squeaked. Truman loved charging things to Jenny's store account. When he emptied his pockets, he wrapped his change in a handkerchief. He?d get a dollar a week, but any spending he did he would charge to Jenny?s account. He knotted his coins up real tight in a handkerchief, and I guess because he figured he?d hear if anybody tried to untie it to get to his money.
Truman had charisma. He was a different sort of person. He liked people. Growing up, we listened to Benny Goodman. We came up in the Depression, but there was always plenty to do on the farm. We milked the cows and strained the milk. That was one of my main chores. I broke my arm by falling off the roof. It was right before school started, and I was out for so long that I just waited and started school the next year.
We liked to order a dope at the drug store. A dope is a coke, ice cream, and cherry. It cost a dime. Sook gave us
change to go to the picture show. We'd see westerns/double-features. The three of us would go together.? Sook never liked to go out. Jenny ran Faulks Mercantile and was a milliner.? Jenny also was an artist but her drawings burned in a house fire. The fire was on the coldest night of the year and the fire hose froze. It was an electrical fire. Sook lost her dog in that fire. ?
Like I said, I honestly don't know what else I can tell you that hasn't been said.
* * *
Here is a link to a picture that Jennings Carter took of Truman and Mary Ida.
http://www.southernliterarytrail.org/images/truman_capote_&_mary_ida.jpg
Jennings said he wished he'd gotten a copyright on that picture, because it's everywhere.
Here is another link
to a story of the 1959 letter (on display in Monroeville) that Truman wrote to his Aunt Mary Ida Carter.
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/contentbe/dispatch/2006/03/12/20060312-C7-00.html
OTHER LINKS TO ARTICLES:
"GREETINGS FROM MONROEVILLE" by Steve Garbarino http://www.blackbookmag.com/article/greetings-from-monroeville2/996
TO FIND A MOCKINGBIRD by Marja Mills http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2002/12/27/1040511175523.html
* * *
Thanks again for allowing me to revisit these stories and share them with you.
All best Kerry Madden
UP CLOSE: HARPER LEE
"My needs are simple: pen, paper, and privacy." Harper Lee, 1961 www.kerrymadden.com
Received on Wed 27 May 2009 04:24:19 PM CDT
