Jose Yglesias (November 29, 1919November 7, 1995) was an American

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living wage, living writing novels and other fiction, while other ...

and journalist.

Life and career

Yglesias was born in the

Ybor City Ybor City ( ) is a historic neighborhood just northeast of downtown Tampa, downtown Tampa, Florida, United States. It was founded in the 1880s by Vicente Martinez Ybor and other cigar manufacturers and populated by thousands of immigrants, mai ...

district of

Tampa Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. His father was from the Spanish region of Galicia and his mother was a native of

Cuba Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, is an island country, comprising the island of Cuba (largest island), Isla de la Juventud, and List of islands of Cuba, 4,195 islands, islets and cays surrounding the main island. It is located where the ...

. He moved to New York City in 1937 and served in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He studied at

Black Mountain College Black Mountain College was a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Black Mountain, North Carolina. It was founded in 1933 by John Andrew Rice, Theodore Dreier, and several others. The coll ...

and was a film critic for the

Communist Party USA The Communist Party USA (CPUSA), officially the Communist Party of the United States of America, also referred to as the American Communist Party mainly during the 20th century, is a communist party in the United States. It was established ...

newspaper ''

The Daily Worker The ''Daily Worker'' was a newspaper published in Chicago founded by communists, socialists, union members, and other activists. Publication began in 1924. It generally reflected the prevailing views of members of the Communist Party USA (CPU ...

''. He lived in New York City and

Brooklin, Maine Brooklin is a town in Hancock County, Maine, United States. The population was 827 at the 2020 census. History Brooklin was originally part the larger town of Sedgwick. Brooklin broke off and formed its own town in 1849. A few weeks later, ...

. From 1953 to 1963 he held an executive position at the pharmaceutical company

Merck Sharp and Dohme Merck & Co., Inc. is an American multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rahway, New Jersey. The company does business as Merck Sharp & Dohme or MSD outside the United States and Canada. It is one of the largest pharmaceutical co ...

. He published fifteen books and wrote articles for ''

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. It was founded on February 21, 1925, by Harold Ross and his wife Jane Grant, a reporter for ''The New York T ...

'', ''

Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentleman ...

'', ''

The New York Times Magazine ''The New York Times Magazine'' is an American Sunday magazine included with the Sunday edition of ''The New York Times''. It features articles longer than those typically in the newspaper and has attracted many notable contributors. The magazi ...

'' and other periodicals. In 1968, he signed the "

Writers and Editors War Tax Protest Tax resistance, the practice of refusing to pay taxes that are considered unjust, has probably existed ever since rulers began imposing taxes on their subjects. It has been suggested that tax resistance played a significant role in the collapse o ...

" pledge, vowing to refuse tax payments in protest against the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

."Writers and Editors War Tax Protest" January 30, 1968 ''New York Post'' Yglesias was the patriarch of a writing family, which in addition to his son, the novelist and screenwriter

Rafael Yglesias Rafael Yglesias is an American novelist and screenwriter best known for his novels ''Hide Fox, And All After'' and ''A Happy Marriage'', as well as the 1993 movie '' Fearless'', which he adapted from his own novel of the same name. He is the fath ...

, included his wife, Helen Yglesias, a novelist and editor, as well as his grandsons, the journalist

Matthew Yglesias Matthew Yglesias (; born May 18, 1981) is an American blogger and journalist who writes about economics and politics. Yglesias has written columns and articles for publications such as ''The American Prospect'', ''The Atlantic'', and ''Slate''. I ...

and the novelist Nicholas Yglesias. He died on November 7, 1995, at Beth Israel Hospital in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

from cancer.

Works

All descriptions of works come from the author's 1995 ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' obituary. * ''A Wake in Ybor City'' (1963), "about Cubans who immigrated to Florida" * ''The Goodbye Land'' (1967), "about Galicia, his father's native province in Spain" * ''In the Fist of the Revolution'' (1968), "an intimate view of

Mayari Mayari is one of the many moon deities in Philippine mythology.The Philippines has multiple moon deities because of its diverse ethnolinguistic groups and rich pre-colonial unified belief systems. In Kapampangan people, Kapampangan mythology, M ...

'sic'' a small country town in Cuba, under the rule of

Fidel Castro Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...

" * ''An Orderly Life'' (1968) * ''Down There'' (1970), "deals with the lives of people in

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

, Cuba,

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

and

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

" * ''The Truth About Them'' (1971) * ''Double Double'' (1974) * ''The Kill Price'' (1976) * ''The Franco Years (1977)'', described by ''New York Times'' critic John Leonard as "a modest and extremely interesting series of interviews, filtered through a sympathetic intelligence

ith people The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometers, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is im ...

who managed to survive

Franco Franco may refer to: Name * Franco (name) * Francisco Franco (1892–1975), Spanish general and dictator of Spain from 1939 to 1975 * Franco Luambo (1938–1989), Congolese musician, the "Grand Maître" * Franco of Cologne (mid to late 13th cent ...

's dreary rule" * ''Home Again'' * ''Tristan and the Hispanics'' (1989), "centered on a man who was the most famous Latin American writer of his generation" * ''Widower's Walk'' (1996) * ''The Guns In The Closet'' (1996), collected stories * ''The Old Gents'' (1996) * ''Break In'' (1996)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Yglesias, Jose 1919 births 1995 deaths American writers of Cuban descent American people of Galician descent American tax resisters Hispanic and Latino American novelists Hispanic and Latino American journalists Hispanic and Latino American short story writers 20th-century American novelists American male novelists American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers Writers from Tampa, Florida People from Brooklin, Maine 20th-century American male writers Novelists from Florida 20th-century American non-fiction writers American male non-fiction writers United States Navy personnel of World War II

Life and career

Works

See also

References