Second Novel No End: An Open Letter to Ralph Ellison

Horace Porter is the F. Wendell Miller Professor of English & American Studies and is chair of the American Studies department and the African American Studies program at the University of Iowa. Porter received his B.A. from Amherst College and Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale University. Before joining the faculty at Iowa, he taught at Wayne State University, Dartmouth College, and Stanford University. He is the author of Jazz Country: Ralph Ellison in America (2001), a study that addresses Ellison’s essays and comments about jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Charlie Parker. Porter also highlights the significance of Ellison’s friendship with two other jazz aficionados—the writer Albert Murray and the painter Romare Bearden. Porter’s articles on Ellison include: “Ralph Ellison and Charlie Christian in Oklahoma City” (1999). He is also author of Stealing the Fire: The Art and Protest of James Baldwin (1989) and is one of the editors of Call and Response: The Riverside Anthology of the African-American Literary Tradition (1998). Porter was a consultant for and commentator in the documentary film Movie Star: The Secret Lives of Jean Seberg (2014). His commentary focuses on the Iowa native’s activities as a civil rights activist and as a supporter of the Black Panther Party. In 2003, Porter published The Making of a Black Scholar, a memoir in which he tells of getting to know Ralph Ellison. Porter first met Ellison in 1969 at Amherst College. He visited Ellison for the first time in 1977 and remained in touch with the writer until his death in 1994.

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