Mona Smith Reading
Mona Smith discusses and reads from her non-fiction work, Becoming Something: the Story of Canada Lee. Her book outlines the “meteoric rise” and “precipitous fall” of African American actor Canada Lee during the mid-20th century. Smith begins by explaining the circumstances that led up to the writing of her book, which was originally produced as a play. She details the difficulty that she faced in finding primary sources to aid her research, and tells of the winding road that eventually led her to the door of Canada Lee’s widow.
Smith goes on to flesh out the details of Canada Lee’s life, moving chronologically from his position as a child prodigy of the violin, a horse jockey, a boxer, and finally to his introduction into acting. She details Canada’s work with such famous directors as Orson Welles and Alfred Hitchcock. Hitchcock’s picture was filmed in South Africa during apartheid, and Smith explains how Mr. Lee used this circumstance as an opportunity to expose the atrocities of the apartheid system to the American public.
Smith then outlines the “precipitous fall” of Canada’s career by detailing the circumstances surrounding Canada’s induction onto the famous Hollywood “blacklist” during post-WWII. Canada’s betrayal by a news columnist and longtime friend began his “erasure from history” and his subsequent misfortunes.
In: "Live from Prairie Lights" Audio Archive | Nonfiction
Authors:
Date Recorded: October 12, 2004
Works Read: One Shot: A Jack Reacher Novel, by Mona Z. Smith
Program: Live From Prairie Lights
Format: reading
Contributors: Introduction by Julie Englander.
Topics: Canada Lee, playwriting, archive research, Red Scare, Hollywood blacklist, Orson Welles, Alfred Hitchcock, apartheid