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Size | 15.5 feet of linear shelf space (approximately 5,700 items) |
Abstract | Perry Deane Young, journalist, author, and playwright, was born 27 March 1941, in Woodfin, N.C. Young has worked for many North Carolina newspapers and international publications, covered the Vietnam War for United Press International, and written several non-fiction books. The papers include correspondence with editors, publishers, friends, and family members; letters, diaries, photographs, and other materials from Young's experiences in the Vietnam War and about Vietnam; and items relating to Young's writings, especially Two of the Missing (1975), about journalists Dana Stone and Sean Flynn, who disappeared in Vietnam, and A Killing Cure (1985), about co-writer Evelyn Walker's malpractice suit about abusive psychotherapy. Included is correspondence with Jim Shumaker, editor of the Chapel Hill Weekly, about Vietnam; Allen Ginsberg in 1982 about a conference; Terry Sanford; Judy Loeb; poet Robert VanderMolen; Hannah Tillich; Robbie Robertson; Gloria Steinem about gender issues; Reynolds Price; writer Ron Dorfman; writer Ron Hollander; musician Casse Culver; photographer David Hume Kennerly; gay football player David Kopay, whose biography Young co-authored; writer Lewis H. Lapham; photographer Kenneth Maley; writer William Wright (Bill); writer Christopher Isherwood; Georgia congressman and actor Ben Jones; writer Rosemary Daniell; and a copy of an undated letter from Truman Capote congratulating Young on Two of the Missing. |
Creator | Young, Perry Deane. |
Curatorial Unit | Southern Historical Collection |
Language | English |
Processed by: Nathalie Wheaton, November 2004
Encoded by: Nathalie Wheaton, November 2004
The Addition of April 2005 (Acc. 100058) is arranged in the same way as, but has not been incorporated into, the original deposit of materials. Researchers should always check additions to be sure they have identified all files of interest to them.
Finding aid updated in July 2005 by Nathalie Wheaton because of addition.
Back to TopThe following terms from Library of Congress Subject Headings suggest topics, persons, geography, etc. interspersed through the entire collection; the terms do not usually represent discrete and easily identifiable portions of the collection--such as folders or items.
Clicking on a subject heading below will take you into the University Library's online catalog.
Perry Deane Young, journalist, author, and playwright, was born 27 March 1941, in Woodfin, N.C. His mother, Rheba Maphry Tipton Young, later married Olin Stanton. Young attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1959 to the early 1960s, but left before graduating. He returned in the 1990s and graduated in 1994. In the 1960s, Young served in the military and wrote for many different newspapers in North Carolina. In January 1968, he was sent by United Press International to Vietnam to cover the Vietnam War. Since then, he has had many articles and columns published in an assortment of publications and has written several non-fiction books.
Young's first book, Two of the Missing, published in 1975, is a memoir of life during the Vietnam War and the disappearance of two of his friends, photojournalists Sean Flynn and Dana Stone, who were captured in 1970. In 1977, Young co-wrote The David Kopay Story with David Kopay, a homosexual professional football player. God’s Bullies, Native Reflections on Preachers and Politics was published in 1982. A Killing Cure, published in 1985 and cowritten by Evelyn Walker, is the story of Evelyn Walker's malpractice suit against an abusive psychotherapist. Young has also written plays and other non-fiction books. He was a columnist for the Chapel Hill Herald from 1996 to 2003 and wrote columns for The Independent in Durham, N.C.
Back to TopThe Perry Deane Young papers include correspondence from editors, publishers, friends, and family members; letters, diaries, photographs, and other materials from Young's experiences in the Vietnam War and about Vietnam; and items relating to Young's writings, especially Two of the Missing (1975), about journalists Dana Stone and Sean Flynn, who disappeared in Vietnam; A Killing Cure (1985), about co-writer Evelyn Walker's malpractice suit about abusive psychotherapy; and The David Kopay Story, the true story of a homosexual professional football player. The collection contains correspondence with Jim Shumaker, editor of the Chapel Hill Weekly, about Vietnam; Allen Ginsberg in 1982 about a conference; Terry Sanford; Judy Loeb; poet Robert VanderMolen; Hannah Tillich; Robbie Robertson; Gloria Steinem about gender issues; Reynolds Price; writer Ron Dorfman; writer Ron Hollander; musician Casse Culver; photographer David Hume Kennerly; David Kopay, gay football player whose biography Young co-authored; writer Lewis H. Lapham; photographer Kenneth Maley; writer William Wright (Bill); writer Christopher Isherwood; Georgia Congressman Ben Jones; writer Rosemary Daniell; and a copy of an undated letter from Truman Capote congratulating Young on Two of the Missing.
Back to TopProcessing Note: See also Addition of April 2005.
Arrangement: chronological, then alphabetical.
Personal and professional correspondence and related materials. For the most part, the the original arrangement of the letters and original folder titles have been retained. Researchers are advised to look for letters in several different places since years may overlap and alphabetical filing and date spans are not always consistent or as labeled. Letters from Young during his time in Basic Training, 1966-1967, and during the Vietnam War, 1968-1969, were separated by Young and filed with materials concerning Vietnam and the Vietnam War. Correspondence during the time when Young was conducting research for Two of the Missing was separated by Young and included with materials relating to that book. Letters from his mother are sometimes filed under Rheba Stanton and sometimes under Rheba Young. Note the presence of many carbon copies of outgoing letters.
Professional correspondence includes letters concerning specific publications for which Young worked, rejection letters from publishers, editing remarks, and letters about business dealings and finances. Personal correspondence includes letters to and from family members and friends. Frequent and regular correspondents include representatives of publishers Arbor House; literary agents James Brown and David Stewart Hull of James Brown Associates, Inc.; Perry Knowlton and Richard Parks of Curtis Brown, Ltd.; Bent Christensen; musician Casse Culver; Rosemary Daniell, Ron Dorfman; Ron Hollander; Young's older sister, Grace Hornowski, also known as Grace Young Miller Hornowski; David Hume Kennerly; David Kopay; Lewis Lapham at Harper's Magazine; Kenneth Maley; George Page; Reynolds Price; Patricia Soliman of publishers Coward, McCann, and Geohegan, Inc.; Young's mother, Rheba Stanton; author William "Bill" C. Wright; and Young's brother, Robert Young. From 1960 to 1971, letter writers include Paul Friedlander, travel editor of the New York Times; William Hefferle of United Press International; William A. McWhirter, associate editor of LIFE Magazine; Sherry Sitton; and Sureva Seligson.
Correspondence from 1972 also includes letters dated 1971-1974. Many of the letters concern the writing of Two of the Missing and related articles, although letters and interviews used for the book itself are filed with the Two of the Missing material. During these years, there is much correspondence with Harper's Magazine, the New York Times, the Village Voice, and Rolling Stone, and photographer Nik Wheeler. Also included are some financial records.
Correspondence, 1973-1974, also includes some later letters. During these years, Young was still involved with writing Two of the Missing but also working on The David Kopay Story. Correspondence filed under 1974 to 1976 also include some earlier letters. These letters mostly concern the time after Two of the Missing was released in 1975, including a copy of an undated letter from Truman Capote congratulating Young on Two of the Missing.
Correspondence, 1976-1977, also includes some letters from 1975 to 1980. Correspondents include musician Casse Culver. Also included are letters concerning a possible sequel to The David Kopay Story and a book idea called "The Gospel According to Anita Bryant." An undated letter from Gloria Steinem while she worked at Ms. Magazine is a response to a letter Young wrote her concerning gender issues.
Correspondence, 1981-1982, includes some earlier letters. Included are letters and other material related to a court case involving the Walsh, Mesmer and Associates, which managed the apartment Young lived in in Washington, D.C. Also included are letters from people involved with the Ossabaw Island Project, including the then owner of the island, Eleanor Torrey West ("Sandy"), and the director of the project, Albert Bradford. Some letters refer to a proposed novel, "Notes on Victims of Understanding or Understanding Victims." Correspondents include artist Judy Loeb, H. C. "Robbie" Robertson, Hannah Tillich, and poet Robert VanderMolen.
Correspondence from 1982 also includes some earlier and later letters. Letters concern turning Two of the Missing into a screenplay and the development of God's Bullies. Correspondents include Charles Brydon of the Dorian Group, a gay rights organization; Penthouse; Channa Taub, editor of A Killing Cure; and Jonathan Yardley at the Washington Post. Also included are letters from writer Timothy Ferris; a letter from Allen Ginsberg dated 17 May 1982, referring to a Jack Kerouac Conference; and letters from former North Carolina Governor Terry Sanford while he was president of Duke University. Also included are a large number of greeting cards sent to Perry Deane Young in the 1980s.
Correspondence, writings, collected materials, maps, and photographs relating to the Vietnam War. Most letters are to friends and family during Young's basic training, 1966-1967; letters to friends and family, 1968-1969, during Young's time as a journalist in Vietnam; and letters to Jim Shumaker, editor of the Chapel Hill Weekly, about the Vietnam War.
Writings include diaries, notes, and articles Young wrote during the Vietnam War. Collected materials include tourist information related to Vietnam, military information, and information from the anti-war and draft resistance movements. Maps are USGS Topographic Maps of Vietnam and Cambodia and a tourist map of Saigon. Pictures include photographs taken during military action and personal photos taken during the Vietnam War by Dana Stone, Tim Page, Sean Flynn, and Nik Wheeler. Some photographs were taken of friends at China Beach in Danang, and of John Steinbeck IV and other friends on Phoenix Island in the Mekong delta with the Buddhist Coconut Monk.
Folder 75 |
1966-1967: Basic training |
Folder 76 |
1968-1969: Friends and family |
Folder 77 |
1968-1969: Jim Shumaker |
Folder 78 |
Diaries |
Folder 79-81
Folder 79Folder 80Folder 81 |
Writings during the Vietnam War |
Folder 82 |
Tourist information |
Folder 83-84
Folder 83Folder 84 |
Military releases |
Folder 85 |
Military monthly summaries |
Folder 86 |
Military publications |
Folder 87 |
Anti-war movement and draft resistance materials |
Extra Oversize Paper Folder XOPF-5169/1 |
Maps of Vietnam and Cambodia, 1965 |
Tourist map of Saigon, 1966 |
|
Image Folder PF-5169/1-2
PF-5169/1PF-5169/2 |
Photographs of Perry Deane Young and friends during the Vietnam War, 1966-1972 |
Image Folder PF-5169/3 |
Photographs of military action during the Vietnam War, 1966-1970 |
Processing Note: See also Addition of April 2005.
Letters, writings, subject files, and research notes relating to Two of the Missing, about the disappearance of journalists Dana Stone and Sean Flynn in Vietnam. Included are letters from and interviews with people who had known Stone and Flynn and transcriptions of tapes that Stone sent home as letters to his family.
Writings include manuscripts and proofs for the book and outlines, comments, and drafts of screenplay adaptations with Ralph Hemecker and Robert Eisele. Note that one of the original titles of Two of the Missing was "Groovin' on the Danger." For the most part, original folder titles have been retained.
Writings, legal materials, subject files, and research notes relating to A Killing Cure, about Evelyn Walker's malpractice suit alleging abuse by her psychotherapist. Legal materials relate to Evelyn B. Walker v. Zane D. Parzen, M.D., et al, including depositions, records, and documents used in the trial and associated trials. Subject files include clippings on the court case and Evelyn Walker, background research on psychiatric abuse, and files and notes on people and places related to the case. The original folder titles have been retained when possible.
Processing Note: See also Addition of April 2005.
Other writings include notes, news articles, letters, and writings associated with Young's proposed book, "The Trials of Police Sergeant Mitch Grobeson." In the 1980s, Sgt. Mitchell Grobeson was the first openly gay police officer in the Los Angeles Police Department.
Also included is an article in The Asheville Citizen commenting on Young's article "Goodbye, Asheville" in Harper's Magazine in March 1975 and a 2004 program for the Southern Appalachian Repertory Theatre (SART) featuring Perry Deane Young and William Gregg's play Mountain of Hope.
Folder 196 |
Materials related to "The Trials of Police Sergeant Mitch Grobeson" |
Folder 197 |
Materials related to "Goodbye, Asheville" and Mountain of Hope |
Processing note: The Addition of April 2005 is arranged in the same way as, but has not been incorporated into, the original deposit of materials.
Correspondence includes letters to and from writer Christopher Isherwood and between Young and his mother Rheba Stanton; letters from readers of Young's newspaper columns in The Chapel Hill Herald; and personal and business correspondence, 1987-2002. Young was encouraged by Isherwood to include the subject of his homosexuality in his book Two of the Missing. Young wrote about their friendship in a column for The Advocate in 1999, when it was announced that the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif., would be receiving Isherwood's papers. Some letters have been copied from Isherwood's collection. Letters between Rheba Stanton and Young, 1954-1983, were written regularly, sometimes monthly. Included is a paper that Young wrote in eighth grade about Zebulon Vance, a historical figure Young continued to research for many years. Stanton lived in Atlanta, Ga., for much of the 1960s and wrote about civil rights and race relations there. When Young was studying at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he wrote to his mother about student life, his classes, and politics. Later, Young often wrote to her about his writings, travels, and daily life.
Readers' letters, 1995-1999, include emails Young received about columns he wrote for The Chapel Hill Herald. Some copies of responses from Young are also included. Subjects include geneaology, especially relating to the Young family; the death penalty; and the folk legend of Frankie Silver. General correspondence, 1987-2002, includes personal and business correspondence. Many of the same correspondents can be found in older correspondence in the original deposit of materials. Correspondents include Georgia Congressman Ben Jones, with whom Perry Deane Young was working on a biography, in 1988; Martin Duberman of the Center for Lesbian and Gay Studies at the Graduate School at the City University of New York; writer Rosemary Daniell; writer Ron Dorfman; writer David Kennerly, with whom Young worked on a screenplay for Two of the Missing; writer Florence King; David Kopay; Young's sisters Gertrude McMahan and Grace Hornowski; photographer Tim Page; writer Anne Russell; Robbie Roberston; poet Robert VanderMolen; writer Lindsy Van Gelder; writer William Wright; and Bruce Worcester of the International Executive Service Corps, who wrote extensively about his work and life in Ukraine and experiences traveling. Young often wrote about his projects, including the screenplay for Two of the Missing, a re-release of The David Kopay Story, Lesbians and Gays in Sports, and Frankie Silver.
Folder 198 |
Christopher Isherwood, 1973-1975, 1999 |
Folder 199 |
From Rheba Stanton: 1954-1959 |
Folder 200-207
Folder 200Folder 201Folder 202Folder 203Folder 204Folder 205Folder 206Folder 207 |
From Rheba Stanton: 1960s |
Folder 208 |
From Rheba Stanton: 1975-1976, 1980 |
Folder 209 |
From and to Rheba Stanton: Quotes and 1961 Perry Deane Young letter |
Folder 210-211
Folder 210Folder 211 |
To Rheba Stanton: 1957-1976 |
Folder 212 |
To Rheba Stanton: 1957-1983 |
Folder 213-217
Folder 213Folder 214Folder 215Folder 216Folder 217 |
Readers' Letters |
Folder 218 |
1987-1993: A |
Folder 219-221
Folder 219Folder 220Folder 221 |
1987-1993: B |
Folder 222 |
1987-1993: C |
Folder 223 |
1987-1993: D |
Folder 224 |
1987-1993: E |
Folder 225 |
1987-1993: F-G |
Folder 226 |
1987-1993: H |
Folder 227 |
1987-1993: J |
Folder 228 |
1987-1993: K |
Folder 229 |
1987-1993: M |
Folder 230 |
1987-1993: N |
Folder 231 |
1987-1993: P |
Folder 232 |
1987-1993: R |
Folder 233 |
1987-1993: S |
Folder 234 |
1987-1993: V |
Folder 235-236
Folder 235Folder 236 |
1987-1993: W |
Folder 237 |
1987-1993: Y |
Folder 238 |
1987-1993: John Young and Audubon |
Folder 239 |
1992-2002: A |
Folder 240 |
1992-2002: B |
Folder 241 |
1992-2002: C |
Folder 242 |
1992-2002: D |
Folder 243 |
1992-2002: E |
Folder 244 |
1997-1998: Enevold, Orrin Hiram |
Folder 245 |
1992-2002: F |
Folder 246 |
1992-2002: G |
Folder 247-248
Folder 247Folder 248 |
1992-2002: H |
Folder 249 |
1992-2002: I |
Folder 250 |
1992-2002: J |
Folder 251 |
1992-2002: K |
Folder 252 |
1992-2002: L |
Folder 253 |
1992-2002: Mc |
Folder 254 |
1992-2002: M |
Folder 255 |
1992-2002: N |
Folder 256 |
1992-2002: O |
Folder 257 |
1992-2002: P |
Folder 258 |
1992-2002: R |
Folder 259 |
1992-2002: S |
Folder 260 |
1992-2002: T |
Folder 261 |
1992-2002: U-V |
Folder 262-263
Folder 262Folder 263 |
1992-2002: W |
Folder 264 |
1992-2002: Y |
Folder 265 |
2002 |
Material relates to Young's book Two of the Missing, which was published in 1975 and based on Young's experiences as a journalist during the Vietnam War. Young wrote an article for Harper's Magazine in 1972 that eventually was expanded into the book. He received several letters over the years, from the release of the book through the 1980s, in response to the article and the book from veterans of the Vietnam War and readers commenting on the book's openness about homosexuality. Also included are reviews of the book; announcements about the development of the book into a film; and articles about people in the book, including Tim Page and missing photographers Dana Stone and Sean Flynn. There is also correspondence regarding the development of a screenplay for Two of the Missing that Young was working on with David Kennerly and Jim Calio around 1986 and 1987.
Folder 266-267
Folder 266Folder 267 |
Letters and reviews |
Folder 268 |
David Kennerly: Screenplay development |
Folder 269 |
Two of the Missing screenplay: Young's changes |
Drafts, letters, articles, and reviews from several of Young's projects. Material related to David Kopay includes letters Young received from readers after The David Kopay Story, written with Kopay, was published in 1977. Like Two of the Missing, The David Kopay Story, the true story of a homosexual professional football player, received comments on the openness of the book about homosexuality. After writing the book, Young and Kopay remained friends, maintaining a correspondence that can be found both in Series 1 of the original deposit and in this addition, which includes correspondence between Young and Kopay from 1983 to 2002. In 2002, Kopay and Young were working on a screenplay of the Kopay book titled Teammates.
Also included are the original book proposal, letters from readers, reviews, and articles about fundamentalist Christians and their politics relating to Young's book God's Bullies (1982); correspondence relating to the publication of Lesbians and Gays in Sports (1994); correspondence with Ken Sherman, Young's agent in the early 1990s, about several projects; and drafts, correspondence, and other material related to columns and articles Young wrote for Esquire, The Chapel Hill Herald, and other publications. Young wrote a column about Ellen Degeneris's character revealing her homosexuality on the television program Ellen in 1997. After reading the column, Degeneris called Young to thank him, an experience about which he also wrote.
Folder 270-272
Folder 270Folder 271Folder 272 |
David Kopay: Screenplay, letters, articles |
Folder 273 |
God's Bullies: Book proposals |
Folder 274-275
Folder 274Folder 275 |
God's Bullies: Reviews, articles, letters |
Folder 276 |
Chelsea House: Gays and Lesbians in Sports |
Folder 277 |
Ellen Degeneris columns |
Folder 278 |
"Gay Snapshots from a Vietnam Memory Book" |
Folder 279 |
"The Great Spence" |
Folder 280-282
Folder 280Folder 281Folder 282 |
"Junior Johnson" |
Folder 283 |
"The Long Cruel Hoax" |
Folder 284 |
"An Old Queer..." |
Folder 285-287
Folder 285Folder 286Folder 287 |
Ken Sherman, 1991-1993 |
Materials not related specifically to Young's writing projects, including articles about and a program for the March on Washington for Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Equal Rights and Liberation in 1993; articles on gay topics; and a program for Pride 98, in Asheville, N.C., at which Young taught a writing workshop.
This collection contains additional materials that are not available for immediate or same day access. Please contact Research and Instructional Service staff at wilsonlibrary@unc.edu to discuss options for consulting these materials.