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Home > Ministries of Erin > Reaching Out to Others > By Creative Expression > Erin Stage Company > All the Way Home Background

Director’s Biography

Steve Fitchpatrick directs the Erin Stage Company’s November 2003 production of All the Way Home by Tad Mosel. Steve is a professor of speech and theater at Roane State Community College. Steve recently returned to East Tennessee from Hollywood after working for more than 20 years as an actor and director in television and films. His screen credits include ER, Chicago Hope, Coach, The Drew Cary Show, JAG, Very Bad Things, and many more. Steve holds a Masters of Fine Arts in Acting degree from the Depaul University Goodman School of Drama. This is Steve’s second directing project with the Erin Stage Co.

James Agee Park

Park honoring author Agee to be constructed

Trevor Higgins, The Daily Beacon Staff Writer
Wednesday, October 16, 2002 - Volume 91 Number 38

"They walked away from Market Square, along a dark and nearly empty street, sucking their Life Savers; and Rufus' father reflected, without particular concern, that Life Savers were not quite life saver enough; he had better play very tired tonight, and turn away the minute they got in bed." - James Agee, A Death in the Family.

That is the same Market Square where Sundown in the City is held. Yes, the same Highland Avenue and Forest Avenue that have been the setting for so many Fort Sanders keg parties are the same Highland and Forest avenues traveled in Agee's Pulitzer Prize winning book A Death in the Family.

James Agee is more than a street name. He was an author, journalist, poet, playwright and native Knoxvillian, born and raised in the heart of Fort Sanders, and he may finally be getting his due from the city of Knoxville.

The University of Tennessee, the city of Knoxville, the James Agee Estate and the James Agee Park Steering Committee are working on an agreement to turn a UT commuter parking lot at the corner of James Agee Street and Laurel Avenue into a public park dedicated to Agee.

R.B. Morris, local musician, author and member of the Steering Committee, says that all parties involved have earnestly worked together to make the park a reality.

"Necessarily, such a project as this takes a lot of time to bring together and complete," he said. "But all parties involved have worked together very well.

"I believe it's something that everyone wants to see happen, and everyone benefits from it."

Before fully committing, UT wanted the full support of the James Agee Estate which has recently been given by Paul Sprecher, the new trustee of the James Agee Estate. UT is now working with the city of Knoxville and the East Tennessee Foundation on a three-way agreement.

The agreement they hope to have in place is one that would keep the property in UT's possession through its current long-term lease with the city, who would be in charge of maintenance. The East Tennessee Foundation would be the non-profit fundraising organization accepting donations and cutting checks for the project, Morris said.

Upon completion of their multi-level parking garage at 11th Street and Cumberland Avenue, expected in August 2003, UT plans to turn the parking lot at James Agee Street and Laurel Avenue into a green space. At that time, the Steering Committee may begin physical work on the park. Until then, the Steering Committee still has much work to do.

Morris said that a board of directors/fundraising committee will be put in place to raise funds for the project and that the committee must come up with a specific design for the park that both UT and the city of Knoxville will have to sign off on.

"It has generally been agreed upon that Agee Park is to be a green space, and more a place to relax and reflect as opposed to a more active park," Morris said.

"It needs to have something aspect of Agee present, and it needs to work within and help forward the Fort Sanders neighborhood.

"The fact that Agee's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, A Death in the Family, is actually set in these few blocks certainly adds significance to the location and possibilities for design," he said.

While Morris is pleased with how all of the pieces are beginning to come together for the creation of Agee Park, he wonders why aside from a small marker on Cumberland Avenue and a street naming, little has been done.

"Of course, why it hasn't happened before, or why Agee's original home site was destroyed, or why Knoxville has a tradition of being so a-historical, are all questions that have been pondered over time," he said.

"I think the whole city is trying to evolve out of that pattern now," Morris said. "And none too soon."

Agee was born in Knoxville in 1909 and grew up in the Fort Sanders area. He was a Harvard graduate who wrote for Time and Fortune magazines; his work includes the book Let Us Now Praise Famous Men. He was nominated for an Academy Award for his co-writing of the screenplay for The African Queen. He died in 1955 of a heart attack. A Death in the Family was published posthumously in 1957 and won the Pulitzer Prize.

Copyright © 2002 The Daily Beacon. All rights reserved.
Reprinted courtesy of The Daily Beacon.

James Agee Biography

James Agee
Screenwriter, Actor
Born: November 27, 1909
Died: May 16, 1955

James Agee was born in Knoxville, Tennessee, on November 27, 1909. After attending Harvard University he wrote for various magazines including Time, The Nation and The New Masses. A volume of poems, Permit Me Voyage, appeared in 1934.

In addition to writing fiction, Agee also wrote non-fiction and was a film critic in the 1940s (these reviews were later compiled to form one volume of the two-volume book Agee on Film; the second volume is comprised of five Hollywood scripts).

In 1936 Agee and the photographer, Walker Evans, were commissioned by Fortune Magazine to produce an illustrated article on sharecroppers in Alabama. The article was not published but the material the two men collected appeared in the book, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men (1941).

After the Second World War, Agee worked mainly as a film scriptwriter. This included The African Queen (1951), The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky (1953) and The Night of the Hunter (1955). For The African Queen, Agee was co-nominated for an Academy Award for screenwriting.

James Agee died in New York on May 16, 1955 at age 45, and much of his work was published posthumously. His novel, A Death in the Family, was published in 1957 and was adapted for the stage as All the Way Home (1960) and as a film three years later. Agee was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for A Death in the Family in 1961.

Awards for "All the Way Home"

Nominated for the 1961 Tony Award® Best Play
1961 Tony Award® Best Scenic Design (Dramatic)
1961 Tony Award® Best Costume Design (Dramatic)
1961 Tony Award® Best Direction of a Play

Winner of the 1961 Tony Award® Best Featured Actress in a Play (Colleen Dewhurst)
Winner of the 1961 Pulitzer Prize Pulitzer Prize for Drama

Asides

Actor Richard Mulligan, who won Emmys for his portrayals of dads in the sitcoms "Soap" and "Empty Nest," served as the Assistant Stage Manager and as understudy for the roles of Jay Follet and Andrew Lynch for the original Broadway production.

A Death in the Family has been adapted for the screen (1963) and for TV (1971, 1981, and most recently, in 2002). In the 1963 screen version, Robert Preston starred as Jay Follet. In 1971, the cast included Joanne Woodward as Mary Follet and James Woods as Andrew Lynch. In the 1981 version, Sally Field played Mary Follet, William Hurt played Jay Follet, and Ned Beatty played Ralph Follet. In 2002, the Annabeth Gish played Mary Follet and James Cromwell played the part of Joel Lynch.