...Title:
Proclamations honoring August Wilson and Reverend Dr. LeRoy Patrick for their lifelong contributions to our region and for posthumously receiving 2014 Spirit of King awards.
...Body:
WHEREAS, as a 2014 recipient of a Spirit of King Award, presented by the Port Authority of Allegheny County, the Kingsley Association, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the New Pittsburgh Courier, the late August Wilson (1945-2005) is being honored and remembered as the nation’s greatest African American playwright; and
WHEREAS, on April 27, 1945, August Wilson was born Frederick August Kittel, Jr. in the Hill District of Pittsburgh, the fourth of six children; Wilson’s mother, Daisy, raised the children alone in a small apartment located at 1727 Bedford Avenue, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania; and
WHEREAS, Wilson was the only African American student at Central Catholic High School in 1959 where he was soon driven away by threats and abuse; he transferred to Connelly Trade School, and later to Gladstone High School; he departed Gladstone in the 10th grade after his teacher accused him of plagiarizing a paper he wrote; when he was 15 years old, Wilson pursued an independent education at Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, where he would earn his high school diploma; and
WHEREAS, August Wilson is the author of Jitney, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, Fences, Joe Turner’s Come and Gone, The Piano Lesson, Two Trains Running, Seven Guitars, King Hedley II, Gem of the Ocean and Radio Golf. Collectively, the plays would become known as the Pittsburgh Cycle, exploring the heritage and experience of African Americans, decade-by-decade, over the course of the twentieth century; and
WHEREAS, Wilson’s awards include two Pulitzer Prizes, a Tony Award, Britain’s Olivier Award, seven NY Drama Critics Circle Awards, and an Emmy nomination; and
WHEREAS, in 2006, the August Wilson Center for African American Culture was opened in Pittsburgh’s Cultural District as a tribute to his lifetime of literary achievem...
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