Speed Lamkin

Hillyer Speed Lamkin (born Monroe, Louisiana, 1928) is an American novelist and playwright. He is best known for his first novel "Tiger in the Garden" (1950) and was called "the poor man's Truman Capote" by the composer Ned Rorem. [Ned Rorem, "A Ned Rorem Reader", Yale University Press, 2001, page 276] He was a recipient of a 1950 O. Henry Award for his short story "Comes a Day".

Background

Lamkin was the son of Ebb Tyler Lamkin (1893-1958), a prominent member of Monroe society, and his wife, the former Layton Speed. He was named for his maternal grandfather, Hillyer Rolston Speed, an insurance executive.

He had one sibling, Marguerite, who became a voice coach for Southern-themed films such as "Baby Doll", "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof", "The Long, Hot Summer", and "Raintree County". She is now known as Marguerite Littman. [Cathy Horyn, "If Holly Golightly Had Grown Up", The New York Times, 4 April 1999] [http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9406E4DC1239F937A35757C0A96F958260&scp=1&sq=marguerite%20littman&st=cse]

Education

Lamkin graduated Harvard University in 1948, which he had entered at the age of 16.

Literary career

Called a "niggery, flirty, shrewd, frivolous, perceptive young person" by Christopher Isherwood [Christopher Isherwood and Katherine Bucknell, "The Lost Years: A Memoir, 1945-1951", page 283] , Lamkin became a literary sensation at age 22 with the publication of his 1950 novel, "Tiger in the Garden". The New York Times called the Southern tale "a diffuse examination of the retirement of aristocrats before the vitality of 'new' crude opportunists" but criticized its "overall sense of a low-powered, highly polished Hollywood product". [Hurbert Creekmore, "Feline Lady", The New York Times, 12 February 1950]

Lamkin and his friend Gus Field wrote a dramatic adaptation of Isherwood's story "Sally Bowles" but it was rejected in favor of an adaptation by John van Druten. He also contributed fiction to "Mademoiselle" and wrote a 90-minute television script about the life of Washington, D.C. hostess and ambassador Perle Mesta in 1956; its intended star was Rosalind Russell though the role was eventually played by Shirley Booth. In 1950 he was hired to write an English-language version of "La Otra", a Mexican film starring Dolores del Rio; it was reportedly being written as a vehicle for Joan Crawford. [Thomas F. Brady, "Paramount Plans New Cosby Movie", The New York Times, 16 May 1950]

He also wrote for television and Broadway, notably "Comes a Day", a 1958 play that starred Judith Anderson, Brandon de Wilde, Michael J. Pollard, Eileen Ryan, and George C. Scott. Produced by Cheryl Crawford and Alan J. Pakula, the play was not a success, being described by The New York Times as "a puzzling drama" that was "uneven [and] baffling" and which bore "a surface resemblance to art in the Tennessee Williams manner." [Brooks Atkinson, "Theatre: 'Comes a Day'", The New York Times, 7 November 1958]

After "Comes a Day" closed, Lamkin returned to Monroe, Louisiana, to live.

Published works

*"Tiger in the Garden" (Houghton Mifflin, 1950)
*"Comes a Day", short story, winner of O. Henry Award, 1950
*"The Easter Egg Hunt" (Houghton Mifflin, 1954)
*"Midsummer", a television play for "Matinee Theatre", 1955
*"The Hostess with the Mostess", a television play, 1957
*"Comes a Day", a three-act play, 1958
*"Out by the Country Club", a short story turned play, written with Eva Wolas, 1961

References

External links

[http://www.thenewsstar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080713/LIFESTYLE/807130301 "In Good Taste", a profile of Speed Lamkin in The (Monroe) News-Star, 13 July 2008]