These Are They

Before his worldwide fame as the author of THE LAST UNICORN, fantasy icon Peter S. Beagle earned respect as a journalist writing contemporary nonfiction articles for nationwide magazines like The Atlantic Monthly, Holiday, and the Saturday Evening Post. In that role he witnessed and participated in two critical parts of the 1960s Civil Rights movement—the 1964 effort by northern college students and southern activists to force integration in Fayette County (during which Beagle came within inches of being killed), and 1968’s Poor People’s Campaign, held in the wake of Martin Luther King’s assassination.The articles Beagle wrote about these events were judged too controversial to publish by the magazines that commissioned them, even in severely watered-down form. Now, fifty years later, his original drafts are finally being released—at a time when the state of race relations in America makes them more relevant than ever.CONTENTSPart 1 (1965): Fayette County, TennesseePart 2 (1968): The Poor People’s CampaignPart 3 (2009): Mr. Harris—Peter S. Beagle was born in 1939 and raised in the Bronx, just a few blocks from Woodlawn Cemetery, the inspiration for his first novel, A FINE AND PRIVATE PLACE. Today, thanks to classic works such as THE LAST UNICORN, TAMSIN, and THE INNKEEPER’S SONG, he is acknowledged as America’s greatest living fantasy author; and his dazzling abilities with language, characters, and magical storytelling have earned him many millions of fans around the world. In addition to stories and novels Beagle has written numerous teleplays and screenplays, including the animated versions of THE LORD OF THE RINGS and THE LAST UNICORN, plus the fan-favorite “Sarek” episode of STAR THE NEXT GENERATION. His nonfiction book I SEE BY MY OUTFIT, which recounts a 1963 journey across America on motor scooter, is considered a classic of American travel writing; and he is also a gifted poet, lyricist, and singer-songwriter. He has won the Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Mythopoeic Awards, along with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the World Fantasy Association, and also France’s prestigious Grand Prix de l’Imaginaire.