With its proximity to the cultural hub of New York City and its quieter suburban and rural landscapes, Connecticut was fertile ground for artists and writers in the period of Modernist movements between 1913 and 1979. Many of these cultural figures are well known through biographical and critical studies. Creative Places seeks to show how place played a significant role in creative work, and how in turn the artists and writers influenced communities in Connecticut.
Howard Fast
Fiction
1914 – 2003
- Biography/Description of Work
Howard Fast began to pen historical novels around 1930, and detective novels under the pen name E. V. Cunningham in 1960. During World War II, he wrote for the Voice of America broadcasts. Having joined the Communist Part in 1943, he was called to testify before the House Committee on Un-American Activities in 1950, and was imprisoned for three months for failing to be an informant. While he was in jail, he began to write “Spartacus” which he had to self publish in 1951 as he was blacklisted. For the next several years, Fast published under his own Blue Heron Press. He wrote through 1994 and adapted several books for theater and film. Fast lived in the Greenwich area on and off since around 1970.
- Sources view
- Rachel Carley, Howard Fast Article - New York Times - 1957-2-1, Howard Fast Article - New York Times - 2000-7-9, Howard Fast Obituary - New York Times - 2003-3-13 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Fast, http://www.trussel.com/hf/swaim1.htm, http://www.trussel.com/hf/biog.htm, http://www.evi.com/q/facts_about__howard_fast, http://jackfsanders.tripod.com/A-F.htm
- Associated Resource(s)
- n/a