Monday, January 01, 2007

One Must Say Yes To Life



“ONE MUST say Yes to life, and embrace it wherever it is found—and it is found in terrible places… For nothing is fixed, forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other, and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.”

—James Baldwin
Nothing Personal


Penguin, 1964
Out of Print


This magnificent book, a collaboration with photographer Richard Avedon, was a series of portraits of America intended as a eulogy for the slain Medger Evers. According to biographer David Leeming, it was also a love song for Lucien, Baldwin’s lover, and a celebration of love for his family.


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