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Hettie Jones
Hettie Jones (née Cohen;15 June 1934 – August 13, 2024) was an American poet. She wrote 23 books that include a memoir of the Beat Generation, three volumes of poetry, and publications for children and young adults, including The Trees Stand Shining and Big Star Fallin' Mama: Five Women in Black Music. Early lifeHettie Jones was born Hettie Cohen on 15 June 1934 in Brooklyn, New York, to a Jewish family. She was raised in Laurelton, Queens.[1] She entered Mary Washington College in Virginia in 1952. She had not traveled far from her home until college, and had not experienced antisemitism up until that time: "The roommates didn't want to live with me because I was a Jew."[2] CareerAfter graduating from college and returning to New York, Jones married LeRoi Jones (later known as Amiri Baraka), an African-American writer. Her family initially disowned her for marrying a black man, but her husband's family was welcoming.[2] Despite living in the diverse Lower East Side of Manhattan, they were sometimes harassed in public for being an interracial couple.[3] In 1957, the couple founded the literary magazine Yugen, and launched the publication house Totem Press.[4] They published early works by Beat generation figures Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Frank O'Hara, all of whom they'd befriended as well.[3][5] By 1964, LeRoi had become active in the Black Arts movement and their marriage was deteriorating.[6] While still married to Hettie, he fathered a daughter, Dominique di Prima, with poet Diane DiPrima. LeRoi divorced Hettie and moved to Harlem. She continued writing, editing, and teaching.[3] Jones published her memoir, How I Became Hettie Jones, in 1990. She detailed the experiences of growing up among a Jewish family and community, being part of the Beat Generation, her early writing, and the social difficulties of being in an interracial marriage and raising biracial children.[7] In 1999, Jones won the Poetry Society of America’s Norma Farber First Book Award for her first volume of poetry titled Drive.[8] According to Booklist, the publication of Drive is what established Jones as a “potent and fearless poet.”[9] Jones was a longtime editor and taught poetry, fiction, and memoir at many universities, including Penn State University, NYU, the 92nd Street Y, University of Wyoming, and Parsons School of Design.[10] Jones was a former chair of the PEN Prison Writing Committee, and from 1989 to 2002 she ran a writing workshop at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women.[11] This workshop hailed as an inspiration for Jones’ nationally distributed collection, Aliens At The Border.[12] Jones also co-authored a memoir for Rita Marley, widow of Bob Marley.[13] More recently, Jones received grants to begin a writing program on Manhattan's Lower East Side at the Lower East Side Girls Club Center for Community.[14] Her book, Love, H, a selection from 40 years of correspondence with the sculptor Helene Dorn, was published by Duke University Press in October 2016.[15] Personal lifeJones has two daughters from her marriage to Amiri Baraka: Kellie Jones (born 1959) and Lisa Jones Brown (born 1961). They are educators and writers.[9] Jones resided in the same East Village apartment at 27 Cooper Square that she and LeRoi moved into in 1962.[6] She successfully spearheaded a campaign in 2005 to save her apartment building when it was to be demolished to build a hotel.[16] Jones continued to teach and write.[17] She died in Philadelphia on August 13, 2024, at the age of 90.[3] Works
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