Lalita Tademy

Lalita Tademy
Tademy in 2015
Born	(1948-12-26) 26 December 1948 Berkeley, California, USA
Occupation	Author non-fiction writer short story writer businesswoman
Nationality	American
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles (BSc) (MBA)
Period	1970–present
Notable works	Cane River (2001) Red River (2006) Citizens Creek (2014)
Notable awards	Oprah Winfrey Show (2001) One City One Book selection by the San Francisco Public Library (2007) Audie Award for Fiction finalist (2016) BCALA Literary Award (2015)
Website
www.lalitatademy.com

Lalita Tademy (born 26 December 1948) is an American author best known for her works of historical non-fiction, including fictions and feminist works set in her family genealogy in 1950s. Her debut, Cane River was first published in 2001, and her works have been based on history and black women. As an American-African, Tademy has been influenced by the misconception involved with the black in the history of the United States.

Born in Berkeley, California, to Nathan Green Tademy Jr. and Willie Dee Billes, she began her honors program in Howard University in Washington DC and after two years, she went to the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Tademy faced racial divide because she was black, and academic challenges in America. She earned her BSc in psychology in 1970 and subsequently, her master's degree in business administration in 1970 and 1972 respectively from UCLA in Los Angeles. After resigning from work as the vice president of the Sun Microsystem, she began practicing genealogy, thus; reading, researching and writing about her family history, what she called 'genealogy' of her generation. Her debut novel achieved major critical and commercial success as well as others; Red River (2006), and Citizen's Creek (2014).

Feminism, human relationship especially Mother to child has been Tademy's themes in her writings. Jabari Asim confirms it when he wrote in the Washington Post, "evidence of her researches". She has received several recognitions for her writing including selection for the The Oprah Winfrey Show in 2001 and San Francisco Public Library's One City One Book selection in 2007. She has also appeared at the National Book Festival in 2007 and 2015. From 2001 to 2015, her novel, Cane River was the standard novel for incoming students in Stanford University.

Early life, background and education

Tademy was born on 26 December 1948, in Berkeley, California, as the last out of four children born to Nathan Green Tademy Jr. and Willie Dee Billes. Her maternal grandfather Joseph Billes, an immigrant of the United States from Southern France, stayed in Louisiana as a timber worker. He married a former slave, Emily Fredieu Billes although both weren't legalized for marriage but began giving birth to children including Tademy's maternal grandfather, Theodore Billes, who stayed in Colfax, Louisiana and married Eva Brew Billes. Both gave birth to Tademy's mother, Willies in 1921. Tademy's father, Nathan Tademy Jr., a son of a sailor from Egypt was sold as a slave to Louisiana.

Her father had his education in Grambling State University, and during the World War II, served the U.S Navy. After getting work in Berkeley, California, he started living with his wife, whom he had met as other school children in Louisiana. Following the high rate of racism in the neighborhood in the 1950s, the family relocated to Castro Valley, California, in 1956, where Tademy began her early education. She had her primary and secondary education at Parsons Elementary School, A.B. Morris Junior High School, and Castro Valley High School. After graduation on scholarship and a National Merit Scholar, she began her honors program in Howard University, Washington D.C. However after two years, she left for the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) to complete her education since she had faced academic challenges. Tademy earned her BSc in psychology in 1970 and subsequently, her master's degree in business administration in 1972.

At home, Tademy and her siblings became interested in the story of their grandmother Emily, also known as 'Tite', which their mother always told them. In 1978, Tademy traveled with her father to Louisiana, a trip they usually take every summer. It was to meet her maternal cousin, Gurtie Fredieu, who was about seventy-three years old. Girlie was a resourceful person to the research she had in mind. Tademy lives in northern California with her husband, Barry Williams whom she met after the publication of her debut novel.

Career

After earning MBA, Tademy began working at a new computer industry, Xerox Corporation, and was incharge of selling hardwares. After eighteen months, she moved to the New York City to work in Philip Morris Inc. under the marketing department, but after one year, she returned to the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA). While in SFBA, she worked in the marketing section for the Rapid Transit system. In 1979, Tademy was hired as a product manager in Memorex Corporation, and later to ITT's Qume in 1981. After four years of service, she was hired by Alps Electric, a Japanese technology company with interest of expansion in the US. and was eventually made the vice president, later to the general manager. In 1992, she was recruited and worked for same role at Sun Microsystems in Palo Alto, California but resigned in 1995, in bid to focus on her writing skills. Tademy began reading about her family's past, especially drawing interest from the stories about her grandmother, Emily, told by her mother. She began researching and made use of the National Archives and Records Building in San Bruno, and also visited Louisiana, her family's place of origin. Following her research, including the French works from Louisiana, Tademy hired a professional French genealogist who helped with translation. She wrote two short pieces from the research, where one was an op-ed published in the San Francisco Chronicle. She also enrolled in creative writing classes at Stanford University and the University of California in order to improve her writing skills.

Cane River (2001)

After quitting her job for reading and writing, Tademy began gathering research about her family that she also joined the Natchitoches Genealogical and Historical Association. When her manuscript was due for publication, she started sending them to publishers. After 13 rejections, Tademy found an agent willing to accept her as a client. After many rewrites, which included page reduction from 800 to 400 pages, her first book, Cane River was finally published in 2001 by Warner Books. It is a story that dates back to the 1800s of her African American foremothers. The characters reflects her family, great-grandmother Emily as slave during the Civil War, her mother Philomene, and her grandmother Suzette. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, Tademy explained that she left her job to study genealogy leading to Cane River because she "began to uncover the story after story of her ancestors, and just couldn't keep away from them." The book received international reviews and criticism. American author and poet, Jabari Asim in the Washington Post called the book "an estimable job of celebrating the resourcefulness and resilience of people trapped in a system perversely dedicated to destroying those very qualities", also praising Tademy as "succeeding at describing the physical environment especially the natural elements." Katori Hall reviewing for the Boston Globe said the novel is "lent authenticity by the many black-and-white photographs, yellowed wills, and family letters captured between the pages."

Red River (2006)

After the publication of her first book, Tademy began writing her second work, Red River. It was channeled to her paternal setting and followed her view of the Colfax massacre. Set in Colfax, Louisiana, where she was raised, Tademy used the massacre at Colfax starting with the slaughter of about 150 slaves by white folks. The theme of the book was mainly reviving the war and the effect of the white supremacy and its cruel nature to the black in the era. The book was praised as it signifies the role of masculinity unlike her first one.

Citizen's Creek (2014)

Her third book Citizen's Creek was published in 2014. It was a story of the Cow Tom, a man who rose from a slave to the head of the 'Creek tribe freedmen'. Tademy explores certain there's that showed hope in the novel as well as relationship as seen in Cow Tom, whose closeness to his granddaughter, Rose was seen throughout. Tademy's vacation during researches was observed as the setting was Oklahoma, Alabama and Florida. The relationship theme also circulated between the Native Americans and African Americans. The book later narrated by Bahni Turpin and JD Jackson and published by Brilliance Audio, was a finalist of the Audie Award for fiction in 2016.

Themes

Tademy is known for her writings which reflects on the roles of African Americans. Her debut, Cane River explores the theme of violence and opposition to women using four generations of her maternal ancestors, while seeking truth. Tademy illustrates the importance of the black woman through her family's genealogy. One of the noted theme used throughout her novels is drawn from mother to daughter relationships especially in the face of the history of the United States which was called slavery though she has talked against slavery not being her theme in an interview with Oprah Winfrey. Other critic has said her book provides a portrayal of the relationships between a slave and the master. Her literary work has heen said to be "a case in point to the diversity of family experiences among slaves."

Critical reception

Tademy has received awards and criticism for her works. She was She was listed on The New York Times Best Seller list for Cane River in 2001, selected for the Oprah Winfrey Show in same year as well as the One City One Book by the San Francisco Public Library in 2007. Prior to the release of her third book, Citizen's Creek, she was listed by the Chicago Public Library for the Best Awards for adult fiction. It won the BCALA Literary Award for fiction in 2015, and finalist of the Audie Award for Fiction in 2016. She has also appeared at the National Book Festival by the Library of Congress in 2007 and 2015. Her book was also selected as a standard entrance novel for new students in Stanford University from 2001 to 2015.

Writings

Books

• ——— (2001). Cane River. Warner Books. ISBN 9780759522428.
• ——— (2006). Red River. Wheeler Pub. ISBN 9781597223782.
• ——— (2014). Citizens Creek. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781476753041.

Anthology

• Deborah Santana, ed. (2018). All the Women in My Family Sing : Women Write the World--Essays on Equality, Justice, and Freedom (first ed.). Nothing But the Truth, LLC. ISBN 978-0-9972-9621-1.

References

Sources

• Hill, S. A. (2005). Black Intimacies: A Gender Perspective on Families and Relatioships. United Kingdom: AltaMira Press. ISBN 9780759101524.
• Krasner-Khait, Barbara (2002), "Ancestry", Ancestry magazine, vol. 20, no. 4, Ancestry Inc, p. 64, ISSN 1075-475X, archived from the original on 17 January 2024, retrieved 16 January 2024
• O'Toole, J. (2005). Creating the Good Life: Applying Aristotle's Wisdom to Find Meaning and Happiness. United States: Rodale Books. ISBN 9781594861253. Archived from the original on 20 April 2024. Retrieved 20 April 2024.
• Stewart, Carrie (2007). Lalita Tademy. Voices from the Gaps. Archived from the original on 21 April 2024. Retrieved 18 April 2024.
• The HistoryMakers® Video Oral History Interview with Lalita Tademy (PDF), 7 November 2012, archived (PDF) from the original on 14 June 2022, retrieved 20 April 2024

External links

• Official website