Calder Baynard Willingham Jr. (December 23, 1922 – February 19, 1995) was an American novelist and screenwriter.
91-421: Before the age of 30, after three novels and a collection of short stories, The New Yorker was describing Willingham as having “fathered modern black comedy ,” his signature a dry, straight-faced humor, made funnier by its concealed comic intent. His work matured over six more novels, including Eternal Fire (1963), which Newsweek wrote “deserves a place among the dozen or so novels that must be mentioned if one
182-452: A humid subtropical climate , Cfa on climate maps. As of the 2020 United States census , there were 37,713 people, 14,169 households, and 8,870 families residing in the city. At the 2000 census, 34,980 people, 13,320 households and 8,431 families were residing in the city. The population density was 1,190.5 inhabitants per square mile (459.7/km ). The 14,508 housing units averaged 493.7 per square mile (190.7/km ). The racial makeup of
273-412: A bellboy (as Willingham had), lusting after a new elevator girl. Its sexual explicitness divided critics, who felt its subject was beneath the writer's gifts, but it sold well and has maintained a cult following among writers. William Styron reported visiting William Faulkner and noticing it prominently placed on his desk, and it appears on various published lists of “lost classics.” The original version
364-405: A comic manner. Comedians like Lenny Bruce , who since the late 1950s have been labeled as using " sick comedy " by mainstream journalists, have also been labeled with "black comedy". Sigmund Freud , in his 1927 essay Humour ( Der Humor ), although not mentioning 'black humour' specifically, cites a literal instance of gallows humour before going on to write: "The ego refuses to be distressed by
455-463: A copy of Lolita to Kubrick, who agreed to buy it. Willingham arranged the deal and wrote the first drafts, before giving way to Nabokov, who'd never written a screenplay but contributed significantly and also profited financially. The film was released with a screenplay credited to Nabokov, but is really an amalgam of Willingham, Nabokov and Kubrick's work, and it was nominated for an Academy Award. Willingham's fifth and final collaboration with Kubrick
546-413: A decade of philosophical and spiritual re-evaluation. He re-emerged in 1989 to do movie work again, his first assignment, adapting one of his own novels directly to the screen. Rambling Rose (1991) starred Robert Duvall , Diane Ladd and Laura Dern as Rose. Willingham also began a screenplay for Steven Spielberg in 1994 titled Julie’s Valley about a pioneer family attacked by Native Americans on
637-676: A dog." Next came Reach to the Stars (1951), a second Dick Davenport novel, with Dick as a bell-boy in Los Angeles, making observations and sexual hay on the fringe of the upscale Hollywood scene. In 1951, Willingham also published Gates of Hell (1951), his lone book of short stories, mostly comic. The book was revered in literary circles, and in 1970, Tom Wolfe called it "the most undeservedly neglected book since World War II" referring to Willingham as "the great comic genius of American fiction." Natural Child (1952), Willingham's first New York novel,
728-790: A factory to build medium transformers . In the 1960s, Rome contributed to the American effort in the Vietnam War when the Rome Plow Company produced Rome plows , large armored vehicles used by the U.S. military to clear jungles. In the latter part of the 20th century, many carpet mills prospered in the areas surrounding Rome. Rome is also well known in the region for its medical facilities, particularly Floyd Medical Center , Redmond Regional Medical Center , and Harbin Clinic . Partnering with these facilities for physician development and medical education
819-451: A far ridere su un argomento talmente drammatico di cui si ride perché non c'è altra soluzione possibile, si ha quella che nei cabaret di Berlino degli Anni '20 veniva chiamata la "risata verde". È opportuno distinguere una satira ironica, che lavora per sottrazione, da una satira grottesca, che lavora per addizione. Questo secondo tipo di satira genera più spesso la risata verde. Ne erano maestri Kraus e Valentin. Rome, Georgia Rome
910-409: A fifteen per cent cut in pay, and volunteered a further ten per cent reduction in work time to save the jobs of substitute employees who otherwise would have been thrown out of work." Among fundraising activities for the poor, wealthier residents bought tickets to a show put on by local performers; the fares were paid to grocers, who made boxes of food to sell at a discount price to needy families. In
1001-826: A food-manufacturing facility in Rome at a cost of $ 125 million, the company's largest ever capital investment. Sites include: Sites on the National Register of Historic Places listings in Floyd County, Georgia : Since 2003, Rome has been the home of the Rome Emperors , the High-A affiliate of the Atlanta Braves . The Rome Emperors compete in the South Atlantic League . According to numbers released in 2010, sports tourism
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#17332024201531092-551: A land lottery. The Rome economy continued to grow. In 1849, an 18-mile (29 km) rail spur to the Western and Atlantic Railroad in Kingston was completed, significantly improving transportation to the east. This route was later followed in the 20th-century construction of Georgia Highway 293 . By 1860 the population had reached 4,010 in the city, and 15,195 in the county. Rome's iron works were an important manufacturing center during
1183-434: A male television executive is shipwrecked with a repressed, married woman and a plain, shy, androgynous one. The book was not as well reviewed as its predecessor but became a best-seller in paperback. Twentieth Century Fox paid a near-record amount to buy the rights for husband and wife Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward but never made the movie. The novels came slower as Willingham became a more prolific screenwriter. After
1274-616: A man who grasped things by reason and never by feeling, and who enclosed himself in skepticism; [...] Swift can rightfully be considered the inventor of "savage" or "gallows" humor. Des termes parents du Galgenhumor sont: : comédie noire, plaisanterie macabre, rire jaune. (J'en offre un autre: gibêtises). humour macabre, humeur de désespéré, (action de) rire jaune Galgenhumor propos guilleret etwas freie, gewagte Äußerung Walter Redfern, discussing puns about death, remarks: 'Related terms to gallows humour are: black comedy, sick humour, rire jaune. In all, pain and pleasure are mixed, perhaps
1365-495: A private "works project" to provide employment to men out of work, S.H. Smith Sr. decided to replace the Armstrong Hotel. After demolishing it, he employed many people to help build the towering Greystone Hotel at the corner of Broad and East Second streets. The Rome News-Tribune reported on November 30, 1933, an increase in local building permits for a total of $ 95,800; of this amount, $ 85,000 were invested by S.H. Smith Sr. in
1456-1304: A spese di chi è più ricco e potente di te. Io sono specialista nella risata verde, quella dei cabaret di Berlino degli anni Venti e Trenta. Nasce dalla disperazione. Esempio: l'Italia è un paese dove la commissione di vigilanza parlamentare Rai si comporta come la commissione stragi e viceversa. Oppure: il mistero di Ustica è irrisolto? Sono contento: il sistema funziona. racconto di satira grottesca [...] L'obiettivo del grottesco è far percepire l'orrore di una vicenda. Non è la satira cui siamo abituati in Italia: la si ritrova nel cabaret degli anni '20 e '30, poi è stata cancellata dal carico di sofferenze della guerra. Aggiungo che io avevo spiegato in apertura di serata che ci sarebbero stati momenti di satira molto diversi. Satira ironica, che fa ridere, e satira grottesca, che può far male. Perché porta alla risata della disperazione, dell'impotenza. La risata verde. Era forte, perché coinvolgeva in un colpo solo tutti i cardini satirici: politica, religione, sesso e morte. Quello che ho fatto è stato accentuare l'interazione tra gli elementi. Non era di buon gusto? Rabelais e Swift, che hanno esplorato questi lati oscuri della nostra personalità, non si sono mai posti il problema del buon gusto. Quando la satira poi riesce
1547-610: A tool for exploring vulgar issues by provoking discomfort, serious thought, and amusement for their audience. Thus, in fiction , for example, the term black comedy can also refer to a genre in which dark humor is a core component. Cartoonist Charles Addams was famous for such humor, e.g. depicting a boy decorating his bedroom with stolen warning signs including "NO DIVING – POOL EMPTY", "STOP – BRIDGE OUT" and "SPRING CONDEMNED." Black comedy differs from both blue comedy —which focuses more on crude topics such as nudity , sex , and body fluids —and from straightforward obscenity . Whereas
1638-424: A trial that made the book a cause célèbre in which famous writers were rallying to its defense. Reviews singled out its savage humor and realistic dialogue. Willingham adapted the book into a play at New York's Actors Studio , where it was an off-Broadway success featuring a young James Dean and introducing actor George Peppard . Sam Spiegel , one of Hollywood's top producers, commissioned Willingham to adapt
1729-606: Is Rose, an eroticized housekeeper who comes to stay with the family as Buddy, age 12, is beginning to become curious about sex. The Big Nickel (1975) completed the Dick Davenport trilogy conceived 25 years earlier in the wake of first success. His final novel was The Building of Venus Four (1977), a satirical work that was poorly received. Soon after, Willingham went through a cataclysm: His New Hampshire house burned down, destroying all of his personal papers. He stopped working and regained his health, reading and reflecting during
1820-620: Is an acknowledged coping mechanism. It has been encouraged within these professions to make note of the context in which these jokes are told, as outsiders may not react the way that those with mutual knowledge do. A 2017 study published in the journal Cognitive Processing concludes that people who appreciate dark humor "may have higher IQs, show lower aggression, and resist negative feelings more effectively than people who turn up their noses at it." Examples of black comedy in film include: Examples of black comedy in television include: Examples of gallows speeches include: Military life
1911-429: Is full of gallows humor, as those in the services continuously live in the danger of being killed, especially in wartime. For example: Workers in the emergency services are also known for using black comedy: There are several titles such as It Only Hurts When I Laugh and Only When I Laugh , which allude to the punch line of a joke which exists in numerous versions since at least the 19th century. A typical setup
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#17332024201532002-439: Is that someone badly hurt is asked "Does it hurt?" – "I am fine; it only hurts when I laugh." The term was part of the language before Freud wrote an essay on it—'gallows humor.' This is middle European humor, a response to hopeless situations. It's what a man says faced with a perfectly hopeless situation and he still manages to say something funny. Freud gives examples: A man being led out to be hanged at dawn says, 'Well,
2093-715: Is the Northwest Georgia Clinical Campus of the Medical College of Georgia, which is part of Georgia Health Sciences University . National companies that are part of Rome's technology industry include Brugg Cable and Telecom, Suzuki Manufacturing of America, automobile parts makers Neaton Rome and F&P Georgia, Peach State Labs, and the North American headquarters of Pirelli Tire. Other major companies in Rome include State Mutual Insurance Company. In March 2020, Kerry Group announced plans to build
2184-567: Is the largest city in and the county seat of Floyd County, Georgia , United States. Located in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains , it is the principal city of the Rome, Georgia, metropolitan statistical area , which encompasses all of Floyd County. At the 2020 census , the city had a population of 37,713. It is the largest city in Northwest Georgia and the 26th-largest city in
2275-459: Is to speak of greatness in American fiction.” He had a significant career in cinema too, with screenplays including Paths of Glory (1957), One-Eyed Jacks (1960), The Graduate (1967) and Little Big Man (1970). Willingham was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the son of Eleanor Churchill (Willcox) and Calder Baynard Willingham, a hotel manager. After dropping out of The Citadel , then working for
2366-681: The British colonies of Georgia and Carolina ) were accepted by the Head of Coosa Cherokee. These were later joined by missionaries , and more settlers. After the American War of Independence , most new settlers came from the area of Georgia east of the Proclamation Line of 1763 . In 1793, in response to a Cherokee raid into Tennessee, John Sevier , the Governor of Tennessee , led a retaliatory raid against
2457-662: The Civil War , supplying many cannons and other armaments to the Confederate effort. In April 1863, the city was defended by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest against Union Colonel Abel Streight 's "lightning mule" raid from the area east of modern-day Cedar Bluff, Alabama . General Forrest tricked Colonel Streight into surrendering just a few miles shy of Rome. Realizing their vulnerability, Rome's city council had allocated $ 3,000 to build three fortifications. Although these became operational by October 1863, efforts to strengthen
2548-622: The Gulf Coast , the major port for export of cotton. By 1838, the Cherokee had run out of legal options in resisting removal. They were the last of the major Southeast tribes to be forcibly moved to the Indian Territory (in modern-day Oklahoma ) on the Trail of Tears . After the removal of the Cherokee, their homes and businesses were taken over by Whites , with much of the property distributed through
2639-735: The Muscogee ). They merged with other Creek tribes to become the Ulibahali , who later migrated westward into Alabama in the general region of Gadsden . By the mid-18th century, the Iroquoian -speaking Cherokee had moved into this area and occupied it. They had moved down from areas of Tennessee, under pressure from settlement by Americans migrating across the Appalachians from eastern territories. A Cherokee village named Etowah ( Cherokee : ᎡᏙᏩ , romanized: Etowa ), which means "Head of Coosa",
2730-582: The Office of War Information in Washington, D.C., Willingham moved to New York City where he wrote for 10 years, setting three novels there. During the late 1940s and early 1950s, Willingham was considered at the forefront of the gritty, realistic new breed of postwar novelists: Norman Mailer , James Jones , Truman Capote , Gore Vidal , and others, many of whom comprised the Greenwich Village literary scene at
2821-560: The Oregon Trail . However, after delivering the draft, he was diagnosed with lung cancer and died February 19, 1995, and the film never was made. Willingham's work is now generally out of print. In a biography written for the Literary Guild , author Herman Wouk blamed a twist of fate, a newspaper strike coinciding with publication of Eternal Fire , limiting its readership. Publisher Donald I. Fine echoed this notion in his re-issue of
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2912-531: The 20th century, Ridge's home here was preserved as Chieftain's House. It has been adapted by the state for use as the Chieftains Museum . It is used to interpret the history of the Cherokee in this area, especially Major Ridge. In the 18th century, a high demand in Europe for American deerskins had led to a brisk trade between indian hunters and White traders. A few White traders and some settlers (primarily from
3003-459: The American city of Rome were honored by Italy in 1929, when Benito Mussolini sent a replica of the statue of Romulus and Remus nursing from a mother wolf , a symbol of the founding myth of the original Rome. It is the largest city near the center of the triangular area defined by the Interstate highways between Atlanta , Birmingham , and Chattanooga . It has developed as a regional center for
3094-512: The Capitoline Wolf, as a forecast of prosperity and glory, has been sent from Ancient Rome to New Rome during the consulship of Benito Mussolini in the year 1929. In 1940, anti-Italian sentiment due to World War II became so strong that the Rome city commission moved the statue into storage to prevent vandalism . They replaced it with an American flag. In 1952, the city restored the statue to its former location in front of City Hall. In Rome,
3185-563: The Cherokee in the vicinity of Myrtle Hill, in what was known as the Battle of Hightower . In 1802, the United States and Georgia executed the Compact of 1802 , in which Georgia sold its claimed western lands (a claim dating to its colonial charter) to the United States. In return, the federal government agreed to ignore Cherokee land titles and remove all Cherokee from Georgia. The commitment to evict
3276-579: The Cherokee moved to Head of Coosa, Chief Ridge commanded a company of warriors as a unit of the Tennessee militia, with Chief Ross as adjutant . This Cherokee unit was under the overall command of United States Major Andrew Jackson , and supported the Upper Creek. They were the part of the Creek who had adopted more European-American customs and were more aligned with American settlers. The Creek War played out within
3367-635: The Cherokee was not immediately enforced, and Chiefs John Ross and Major Ridge led efforts to stop their removal, including several federal lawsuits. During the 1813 Creek Civil War , most Cherokee took the side of the Lower Creek Indians, who were more assimilated and willing to deal with European Americans, against the Red Sticks or Upper Creek. As they had lived more isolated from the Whites, they had maintained strong, conservative cultural traditions. Before
3458-594: The French humour noir ) was coined by the Surrealist theorist André Breton in 1935 while interpreting the writings of Jonathan Swift . Breton's preference was to identify some of Swift's writings as a subgenre of comedy and satire in which laughter arises from cynicism and skepticism , often relying on topics such as death. Breton coined the term for his 1940 book Anthology of Black Humor ( Anthologie de l'humour noir ), in which he credited Jonathan Swift as
3549-535: The Georgia State Legislature amended Rome's charter to create a commission to oversee the construction of river levees to protect the town against future floods. In the late 1890s, additional flood control measures were instituted, including raising the height of Broad Street by about 15 feet (4.6 m). As a result, the original entrances and ground-level floors of many of Rome's historic buildings became covered over and had to serve as basements. In
3640-837: The South. This reached Rome in the mid-1920s, and caused many farmers to move away, sell their land, or convert to other agricultural crops, such as corn. Farm workers were displaced, and many African Americans left the area in the Great Migration , seeking work in cities, including those in the North and Midwest. Cotton crops were being destroyed by the boll weevil , a tiny insect that reached Georgia in 1915 (invading from Louisiana ). The boll weevil destroyed many fields of cotton and suppressed Rome's economy. Many families struggled through hard financial times. Jobs were scarce, and prices of food and basic commodities went up. The federal "postal employees took
3731-660: The US-British conflict of the War of 1812 . In 1829, European Americans discovered gold near Dahlonega, Georgia , starting the first gold rush in the United States. Congressional passage of the Indian Removal Act of 1830, which fulfilled the Compact of 1802, was related to that gold discovery and the desire of Whites to settle the land, as well as President Andrew Jackson's commitment to removal of Native Americans to enable development by
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3822-540: The War of 1812. They held a drawing at Alhambra to determine the name of the new city, with Col. Mitchell submitting the name of Rome because of the area's hills and rivers. Mitchell's submission was drawn, and the Georgia Legislature chartered Rome as an official city in 1835. The county seat was subsequently moved east from the village of Livingston to Rome. With the entire area still occupied primarily by Cherokee,
3913-585: The Writers' Guild, and much to Henry and Nichols's annoyance, Willingham was given shared credit. The film was nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture and Best Screenplay . Willingham's collaboration with actor Dustin Hoffman continued with an adaptation of Thomas Berger ’s Little Big Man , for which Willingham was nominated for Writer's Guild Award. They attempted a third collaboration, an adaptation of Malcolm Braly ’s prison memoir On The Yard , but it
4004-551: The ancient Roman Forum , inscribed "From Old Rome to New Rome", to be used as the cornerstone of the new rayon plant. After the rayon plant was completed in 1929, Mussolini honored the American Rome with a bronze replica of the sculpture of Romulus and Remus nursing from the Capitoline Wolf . The statue was placed in front of City Hall on a base of white marble from Tate, Georgia , with a brass plaque inscribed: This statue of
4095-501: The area, Rome was an increasingly important market town, shipping the commodity downriver to other markets. It was designated as the county seat of Floyd County. According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 31.6 square miles (81.9 km ), of which 30.9 square miles (80.1 km ) are land and 0.73 square miles (1.9 km ), or 2.29%, are covered by water. The seven hills that inspired
4186-408: The book in 1986, and perhaps this is a partial explanation why Eternal Fire , arguably deserving of recognition by the literary awards which would have secured him a brighter place in the postwar pantheon, was overlooked. At the same time, as early as 1969, an article entitled “Calder Willingham: The Forgotten Novelist,” appeared in a literary quarterly and most current references refer to him as one of
4277-574: The city developed to serve the agrarian needs of the new cotton-based economy. Invention of the cotton gin in the late 18th century made processing of short-staple cotton profitable. This was the type of cotton that best thrived in the upland areas, in contrast to that grown on the Sea Islands and in the Low Country . Much of upland Georgia was developed as what became known as the Black Belt , named for
4368-543: The city was 63.12% White, 27.66% African American, 1.42% Asian, 0.39% Native American, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 5.61% from other races, and 1.64% from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 10.35% of the population. Of the 13,320 households, 29.1% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 41.2% were married couples living together, 17.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.7% were not families. About 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.1% had someone living alone who
4459-445: The comedy is used to mock the victim. In the last cases, the victim's suffering is trivialized, which leads to sympathizing with the victimizer, as analogously found in the social commentary and social criticism of the writings of (for instance) Sade . Among the first American writers who employed black comedy in their works were Nathanael West and Vladimir Nabokov . The concept of black humor first came to nationwide attention after
4550-570: The command of Major General William Tecumseh Sherman , attacked and captured Rome when the outflanked Confederate defenders retreated under command of Major General Samuel Gibbs French . Union General William Vandever was stationed in Rome and is shown with his staff in a photograph taken there. Due to Rome's forts and iron works, which included the manufacture of cannons , Rome was a significant target during Sherman's march through Georgia to take and destroy Confederate resources. Davis' forces occupied Rome for several months, making repairs to use
4641-703: The construction of the Greystone Hotel. He added the Greystone Apartments in 1936. Rome is located at the confluence of the Etowah and the Oostanaula rivers, which form the Coosa River. This gave the city access to the waterways, the major transportation routes of the era. Because of this water feature, Rome developed as a regional trade center, based originally on King Cotton . As cotton plantations were developed in
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#17332024201534732-530: The damaged forts and briefly quartering General Sherman. On November 11, 1864, in accordance with Sherman's Special Field Orders, No. 120 , Union forces destroyed Rome's forts, iron works, the rail line to Kingston, and any other materiel that could be useful to the South's war effort as they withdrew from Rome to participate in Sherman's March to the Sea . In 1871, Rome constructed a water tank on Neely Hill, which overlooks
4823-499: The day is certainly starting well.' It's generally called Jewish humor in this country. Actually it's humor from the peasants' revolt, the forty years' war, and from the Napoleonic wars. It's small people being pushed this way and that way, enormous armies and plagues and so forth, and still hanging on in the face of hopelessness. Jewish jokes are middle European jokes and the black humorists are gallows humorists, as they try to be funny in
4914-890: The definitive recipe for all punning' (Puns, p. 127). En français on dit « rire jaune », en flamand « groen lachen » Les termes jaune, vert, bleu évoquent en français un certain nombre d'idées qui sont différentes de celles que suscitent les mots holandais correspondants geel, groen, blauw. Nous disons : rire jaune, le Hollandais dit : rire vert ( groen lachen ); ce que le Néerlandais appelle un vert (een groentje), c'est ce qu'en français on désigne du nom de bleu (un jeune soldat inexpéribenté)... On voit que des confrontations de ce genre permettent de concevoir une étude de la psychologie des peuples fondée sur les associations d'idées que révèlent les variations de sens (sémantique), les expressions figurées, les proverbes et les dictions. Q: Critiche feroci, interrogazioni parlamentari: momenti duri per la satira. A: Satira è far ridere
5005-719: The downtown district. This later was adapted as a clock tower visible from many points in the city. It has served as the town's iconic landmark ever since, and is featured in the city's crest and local business logos. As a result, Neely Hill is also referred to as Tower or Clock Tower Hill. During Reconstruction, the state legislature authorized public schools in 1868 for the first time, and designated some funding to support them. The city established its first public schools. Schools were racially segregated and tended to have short sessions, because of limited funding. In addition, many families depended on their children to work in agriculture and other basic survival work. Freedmen had been granted
5096-615: The early 20th century, the Georgia Assembly approved a charter for the city to establish a commission-manager form of government, a reform idea to add a management professional to the team. In 1928, the American Chatillon Company began construction of a rayon plant in Rome; it was a joint business effort with the Italian Chatillon Corporation. Italian premier Benito Mussolini sent a block of marble from
5187-526: The effect of the Great Depression was significantly less severe than in other, larger cities across the United States. Since Rome was an agricultural town, food could be grown in surrounding areas. Rome's textile mill continued operating, providing steady jobs for whites as a buffer against the economic hardships of the Great Depression. The Great Depression was preceded by the "Cotton Bust" across
5278-399: The face of situations which they see as just horrible. At least, Swift's text is preserved, and so is a prefatory note by the French writer André Breton, which emphasizes Swift's importance as the originator of black humor, of laughter that arises from cynicism and scepticism. When it comes to black humor, everything designates him as the true initiator. In fact, it is impossible to coordinate
5369-446: The fertile soil. Planters brought or purchased many enslaved African Americans as workers for the labor-intensive crop. The leading Cherokee participated in the cultivation of cotton as a commodity crop, which soon replaced deerskin trading as a source of wealth in the region. The first steamboat navigated the Coosa River to Rome in 1836, reducing the time-to-market for the cotton trade and speeding travel between Rome and New Orleans on
5460-500: The fields of medical care and education. In addition to its public-school system, it has several private schools. Higher-level institutions include private Berry College and Shorter University , and the public Georgia Northwestern Technical College and Georgia Highlands College . The Abihka tribe of Creek in the area of Rome later became part of the Upper Creek people (who occupied the Northern Creek territory, called themselves
5551-518: The film version of End as a Man , producer Spiegel asked Willingham to work on The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957) for director David Lean . Willingham traveled to Ceylon, where he met with Lean, who disliked Willingham's writing, and Willingham soon returned to the United States. Stanley Kubrick first hired Willingham to adapt Stefan Zweig ’s novel The Burning Secret , but the project fell through and Kubrick eventually hired Willingham to work on
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#17332024201535642-558: The forts continued as the war progressed. These forts were named after Romans who had been killed in action: Fort Attaway was on the western bank of the Oostanaula River, Fort Norton was on the eastern bank of the Oostanaula, and Fort Stovall was on the southern bank of the Etowah River. The Confederates later built at least one other fort on the northern side of the Coosa River. In May 1864, Union General Jefferson C. Davis , under
5733-568: The franchise and tended to join the Republican Party of President Abraham Lincoln, who had freed them. The abolition of slavery required new labor arrangements to arrange for paid labor. Due to its riverside location, Rome has occasionally suffered serious flooding. The flood of 1886 inundated the city to such depth that a steamboat traveled down Broad Street. In 1891, upon recommendation of the United States Army Corps of Engineers ,
5824-540: The fugitive traces of this kind of humor before him, not even in Heraclitus and the Cynics or in the works of Elizabethan dramatic poets. [...] historically justify his being presented as the first black humorist. Contrary to what Voltaire might have said, Swift was in no sense a "perfected Rabelais." He shared to the smallest possible degree Rabelais's taste for innocent, heavy-handed jokes and his constant drunken good humor. [...]
5915-481: The historic Creek . Later the Cherokee people expanded into this area from their traditional homelands to the east and northeast. National leaders such as Major Ridge and John Ross resided here before Indian Removal in 1838. The city has developed on seven hills with the rivers running between them, a feature that inspired the early European-American settlers to name it for Rome , the longtime capital of Italy that
6006-439: The joke: whether the joke is being told by the threatened person themselves or by someone else. Black comedy has the social effect of strengthening the morale of the oppressed and undermines the morale of the oppressors. According to Wylie Sypher , "to be able to laugh at evil and error means we have surmounted them." Black comedy is a natural human instinct and examples of it can be found in stories from antiquity. Its use
6097-442: The name of Rome are known as Blossom , Jackson , Lumpkin , Mount Aventine, Myrtle , Old Shorter , and Neely Hills (the latter is also known as Tower or Clock Tower Hill). Some of the hills have been partially graded since Rome was founded. The climate in this area is characterized by relatively high temperatures and evenly distributed precipitation throughout the year. According to the Köppen climate classification , Rome has
6188-420: The novel to film, his first, retitled The Strange One (1957) for Columbia Pictures , which advertised it as "the first picture filmed entirely by a cast and technicians from the Actors Studio". Willingham followed it with the first in a semi-autobiographical trilogy of novels about an aspiring writer Dick Davenport. Geraldine Bradshaw (1950) was set in a Chicago hotel during World War II where Dick works as
6279-466: The original title and another with racy cover art re-titled The Girl in the Dogwood Cabin . The seeming ease with which it was written bolstered rumors the novel had been written start-to-finish in three weeks, which turned out to be true. Busy with film work, it was eight years before Willingham's next novel, his most ambitious, Eternal Fire (1963), an epic set in Glenville, Georgia, a fictional stand-in for his home town of Rome, Georgia . It chronicles
6370-450: The originator of black humor and gallows humor (particularly in his pieces Directions to Servants (1731), A Modest Proposal (1729), Meditation Upon a Broomstick (1710), and in a few aphorisms ). In his book, Breton also included excerpts from 45 other writers, including both examples in which the wit arises from a victim with which the audience empathizes, as is more typical in the tradition of gallows humor, and examples in which
6461-643: The particular type of laughter that it arouses ( risata verde or groen lachen ), and said that grotesque satire , as opposed to ironic satire, is the one that most often arouses this kind of laughter. In the Weimar era Kabaretts , this genre was particularly common, and according to Luttazzi, Karl Valentin and Karl Kraus were the major masters of it. Black comedy is common in professions and environments where workers routinely have to deal with dark subject matter. This includes police officers , firefighters , ambulance crews, military personnel, journalists, lawyers, and funeral directors , where it
6552-499: The proposed marriage of a young heir to a virtuous schoolteacher, plagued by inexplicable suicidal thoughts. It got the best reviews of Willingham's career, sold well, and firmly established him as one of the major authors of his day. Shelby Foote said the novel convinced him that Willingham was about “the only living American writer qualified to hold Dostoevsky ’s coat in a street fight.” Willingham's next novel appeared six years later, another epic, Providence Island (1969), in which
6643-399: The provocations of reality, to let itself be compelled to suffer. It insists that it cannot be affected by the traumas of the external world; it shows, in fact, that such traumas are no more than occasions for it to gain pleasure." Some other sociologists elaborated this concept further. At the same time, Paul Lewis warns that this "relieving" aspect of gallows jokes depends on the context of
6734-476: The publication of a 1965 mass-market paperback titled Black Humor , edited by Bruce Jay Friedman . The paperback was one of the first American anthologies devoted to the concept of black humor as a literary genre. With the paperback, Friedman labeled as "black humorists" a variety of authors, such as J. P. Donleavy , Edward Albee , Joseph Heller , Thomas Pynchon , John Barth , Vladimir Nabokov, Bruce Jay Friedman himself, and Louis-Ferdinand Céline . Among
6825-504: The recent writers suggested as black humorists by journalists and literary critics are Roald Dahl , Kurt Vonnegut , Warren Zevon , Christopher Durang , Philip Roth , and Veikko Huovinen . Evelyn Waugh has been called "the first contemporary writer to produce the sustained black comic novel." The motive for applying the label black humorist to the writers cited above is that they have written novels, poems, stories, plays, and songs in which profound or horrific events were portrayed in
6916-561: The script of Paths of Glory (1957), of which Jim Thompson had written earlier drafts. The specific contributions by Kubrick, Thompson, and Willingham to the final script were disputed, and the matter went to arbitration with the Writers' Guild. Willingham continued working with Kirk Douglas , the star of Paths of Glory , receiving screen credit for The Vikings (1958), a box-office hit starring Douglas, Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh . Soon after, Kubrick replaced Anthony Mann as director during filming of Spartacus (1960), which Douglas
7007-621: The state. Rome was founded in 1834, after Congress passed the Indian Removal Act , and the federal government committed to removing the Cherokee and other Native Americans from the Southeast . It developed on former indigenous territory at the confluence of the Etowah and the Oostanaula rivers, which together form the Coosa River . Because of its strategic advantages, this area was long occupied by
7098-454: The term black comedy is a relatively broad term covering humour relating to many serious subjects, gallows humor tends to be used more specifically in relation to death, or situations that are reminiscent of dying. Black humour can occasionally be related to the grotesque genre. Literary critics have associated black comedy and black humour with authors as early as the ancient Greeks with Aristophanes . The term black humour (from
7189-495: The time. Willingham's career began in controversy with End as a Man (1947), an indictment of the macho culture of military academies, introducing his first iconic character, sadistic Jocko de Paris. The story included graphic hazing, sex, and suggested homosexuality. The New York Society for the Suppression of Vice filed obscenity charges against its publisher Vanguard Press . The charges ultimately were dropped, but not before
7280-417: The under-appreciated talents of his generation. Black comedy Black comedy , also known as black humor , bleak comedy , dark comedy , dark humor , gallows humor or morbid humor , is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo , particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discuss. Writers and comedians often use it as
7371-739: The whites. Even before removal began, in 1831, Georgia's General Assembly passed legislation that claimed all Cherokee land in Northwest Georgia. This entire territory was called Cherokee County ; the following year, the Assembly organized the territory as the nine counties that still exist in the 21st century. Rome was founded in 1834 as European Americans increasingly settled in Georgia. Founders were Col. Daniel R. Mitchell, Col. Zacharia Hargrove, Maj. Philip Hemphill, Col. William Smith, and John Lumpkin (nephew of Governor Lumpkin ); most were veterans of
7462-452: Was One-Eyed Jacks (1961) with Marlon Brando . The three collaborated on the story for a year before Kubrick left and Brando directed himself in the film. Willingham's next assignment was adapting Charles Webb ’s novel The Graduate for director Mike Nichols , who discarded Willingham's script in favor of one by Buck Henry . Before the film was released, Willingham insisted that screenplay credit be determined through arbitration with
7553-533: Was $ 30,930, and the median family income was $ 37,775. Males had a median income of $ 30,179 versus $ 22,421 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 17,327. About 15.3% of families and 20.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 29.1% of those under the age of 18 and 16.3% of those 65 and older. Rome has long had the strength of economic diversity, with an economy founded in manufacturing, education , healthcare, technology, tourism, and other industries. In 1954, General Electric established
7644-441: Was 415 pages long, but a 1964 edition, considerably shorter, is definitive, including a foreword from Willingham who explained how the pressure of End as a Man ’s success led him to the grandiose idea of filling the follow-up book with obscure references to the next two in the trilogy. "Success is always dangerous, and early success is deadly," he said in a 1953 interview. "What I went through writing my second book shouldn't happen to
7735-435: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.47, and the average family size was 3.07. The age distribution was 24.2% under the age of 18, 12.1% from 18 to 24, 27.7% from 25 to 44, 20.1% from 45 to 64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males. The median household income
7826-456: Was a portrait of two young men and two young women living the bohemian lifestyle of the time. The sophisticated plotting combined with Willingham's ear for realistic dialogue in one of the lesser-known gems in his collection. To Eat a Peach (1955) chronicled life and lust among adults running a summer camp. Confusion about how to place writing considered both literary and prurient resulted in the release of two different paperback versions, one with
7917-403: Was also built on seven hills. The American Rome developed in the antebellum period as a market and trading city due to its advantageous location on the rivers. It shipped the rich regional cotton commodity crop downriver to markets on the Gulf Coast and export overseas. In the late 1920s, a United States company built a rayon plant in a joint project with an Italian company. This project and
8008-440: Was never made. During this period, Willingham also wrote an extended treatment for the film Patton (1970) and a screenplay for Robert Altman ’s Thieves Like Us (1974). Willingham always considered film work secondary to his books. Rambling Rose (1972), his next novel, was an autobiographical story about his childhood in Georgia featuring comic characterizations of his parents and siblings. The one fully fictional character
8099-626: Was settled in this area during the late 18th century, in the period of the Cherokee–American wars (1776–94) during and after the American Revolutionary War. Several Cherokee national leaders settled here and developed their own cotton plantations, including chiefs Major Ridge and John Ross . Some of the Cherokee planters and others among the Southeast tribes bought enslaved African Americans to use as laborers on such plantations. In
8190-430: Was starring in and producing, and Willingham joined the production to work on the screenplay and battle sequences. Though Willingham dropped out of the literary scene when he left New York in 1953, he maintained his friendship with Vladimir Nabokov . Broke and isolated, Nabokov was teaching at Cornell University and considering moving from the U.S. Willingham encouraged him to sell his books to Hollywood and passed along
8281-592: Was widespread in middle Europe , from where it was imported to the United States. It is rendered with the German expression Galgenhumor (cynical last words before getting hanged ). The concept of gallows humor is comparable to the French expression rire jaune (lit. yellow laughing ), which also has a Germanic equivalent in the Belgian Dutch expression groen lachen (lit. green laughing ). Italian comedian Daniele Luttazzi discussed gallows humour focusing on
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