A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man: The Correspondence of Melvin Van Peebles with Kermit Eby and June Greenlief

Abstract: This article examines the correspondence and friendship between Melvin Van Peebles and Kermit Eby, a professor at the University of Chicago, and Eby’s assistant June Greenlief. The letters reveal an impatient and provocative young Van Peebles filled with creative ambition and anxious to make a name for himself. Eby and Greenlief both serve as mentors and provide feedback on Van Peebles’s writing, and Van Peebles argues for a style of writing barren of dramatic contrivances that this article’s author calls “everyday realism.” This article suggests how Van Peebles’s personal character and his drive to excel in multiple creative forms may have aided in his success as a filmmaker.