GME Sends Out Belated Birthday Wishes for James Baldwin on his 96th Birthday

James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American novelist, playwright, essayist, poet, and activist. His essays explore intricacies of racial, sexual, and class distinctions in Western society, most notably in regard to the mid-twentieth-century United States. Baldwin's novels, short stories, and plays fictionalize fundamental personal questions and dilemmas amid complex social and psychological pressures. Themes of masculinity, sexuality, race, and class intertwine to create intricate narratives that run parallel with some of the major political movements toward social change in mid-twentieth-century America, such as the Civil Rights Movement and the Gay Liberation Movement. As such, Baldwin's protagonists are often, but not exclusively, African American, while gay and bisexual men also frequently feature as protagonists in his literature. These characters often face internal and external obstacles in their search for social and self-acceptance.

In the 1970s, photographer Ramimodo Borea had exclusive behind-the-scenes access to Firing Line, The Today Show, and The Tonight Show, where he captured candid portraits of the show’s hosts, including William F. Buckley, Jr., Johnny Carson, Hugh Downs, Dave Garroway, David Letterman, and Jack Paar. Among the guests that he photographed were Fred Astaire, James Baldwin, Salvador Dali, Bette Davis, Farrah Fawcett, Betty Friedan, Benny Goodman, Steve Martin, Ethel Merman, Robert Mitchum, Ayn Rand, Eleanor Roosevelt, Twiggy, Gore Vidal, and TomWolfe. Borea is also known for his compelling NYC street photography work. Several telecasts of Borea’s photographs were also presented on The Today Show, narrated by Hugh Downs.

Gartenberg Media is the exclusive representative for the Estate of Raimondo Borea.

Raimondo Borea’s 1979 portrait of author, activist and notable public intellectual James Baldwin