All Of It – Full Bio: Nicholas Boggs's "Baldwin: A Love Story"

Host: Alison Stewart
Guest: Nicholas Boggs, author
Date: September 20, 2025

Episode Overview

In this multi-part Full Bio feature, Alison Stewart interviews Nicholas Boggs about his book, Baldwin: A Love Story, the first major biography of James Baldwin in thirty years. The book, and the conversation, explore Baldwin’s life through the lens of love—romantic, platonic, familial, and creative—and examine how love influenced his literature, activism, and sense of self. Drawing on new archival material and personal correspondence, Boggs paints a portrait of Baldwin not just as a writer and civil rights leader, but as a complex, loving, and flawed human being.

Key Discussion Points

1. Writing Baldwin's Biography: New Resources and Approaches

• New Archival Material
  The Schomburg Center’s acquisition of Baldwin’s archives in 2017 provided Boggs with unprecedented access to letters and documents.

  “Being able to interview [David Leeming] extensively was also kind of new. I was the first person to do that.” (03:11, Nicholas Boggs)

• Interviews and Oral Histories
  Boggs transcribed hours of unreleased interviews and tracked down people who knew Baldwin personally, expanding the narrative beyond previous biographies.
• Evolving Purpose
  Boggs initially set out to bring Baldwin's children's book, Little Man, Little Man, back into print, but the project expanded into a love-centered biography as archival evidence grew.

2. The Meaning and Centrality of Love in Baldwin's Life and Work

• Book's Mantra
  A little-known Baldwin quote—"Love is the only reality, the only terror and the only hope"—frames the book's exploration.

  “He lived his entire life about love, not just his relationships, but his writing was all about love.” (04:50, Nicholas Boggs)

• Love as Metaphor and Political Tool Baldwin urged black and white Americans to "turn to each other like lovers," using love as both a personal force and a model for social progress.

3. Early Life: Family, Harlem, and the Journey to Self-Love

• Family Dynamics
  Baldwin’s close relationship with his mother and complex, fraught connection to his stepfather, whom he did not know was not his biological father until much later.

  “His father would call him frog eyes. So that was a difficult relationship, to be sure, that he wrote about to great effect in... Notes of a Native Son.” (06:58, Nicholas Boggs)

• Responsibility and Childhood
  As the eldest of nine, Baldwin bore enormous responsibilities, often feeling he "never fully [was] a child."
• Impact of Bullying and Parental Criticism
  Being called “ugly” and a “sissy” deeply wounded him and fueled his demanding journey toward self-acceptance.

  “Baldwin's journey to self love is sort of part of the whole subject of this book… he calls love a battle, love is a war, love is a growing up.” (10:14, Nicholas Boggs)

4. Mentorship and Community: Key Figures in Baldwin’s Development

• Orilla "Bill" Miller
  Baldwin’s teacher who recognized his genius, nurtured his love for literature and theater, and exposed him to New York’s broader cultural scene.

  "It was Bill Miller who helped me escape what he called the trap of color. And he said, it's also because of her that I never managed to hate white people. Although, he added, I did wish to murder more than a few." (12:48, Nicholas Boggs referencing Baldwin)

• Countee Cullen
  As a teacher and Harlem Renaissance icon, Cullen modeled an alternative version of Black manhood and possible artistic futures.
• DeWitt Clinton School and Early Writing
  Peers like Richard Avedon and involvement in literary magazines helped Baldwin refine his voice.

5. Love and Collaboration as Organizing Principles

Part 1: Buford Delaney – Spiritual Father

• Meeting Delaney
  …sparked by a school acquaintance; Delaney introduced Baldwin to jazz, blues, and a new visual appreciation for the world.
• Mentorship and Mutual Complications
  Their relationship blended the spiritual, paternal, and ambiguously erotic.

  “There was this kind of eroticism...and this often happened to Baldwin.” (17:28, Nicholas Boggs)

• Art, Race, and Sexuality
  Delaney’s mentorship offered both affirmation and tension; their dynamic fueled later themes in Baldwin’s work regarding the performative aspects of identity.

Part 2: Lucien Habersberger – The Paris Years

• The Love of Baldwin’s Life
  Lucien, a young aspiring painter, became Baldwin’s lover and artistic muse in Paris (31:22).

  “Lucien was his lover, his great love. He’s really the prototype...of this kind of romantic, idyllic situation where he’s being taken care of by a lover and writing his great works.” (32:14, Boggs)

• Creative Partnership
  Lucien nursed Baldwin through illness and provided space, inspiration, and emotional complexity for Baldwin’s major works.
• Intersections with Race and Sexuality Lucien's unconditional acceptance allowed Baldwin to envision love—and hence social transformation—that transcended race and sexual categories.

Other Key Figures

• Mary Painter
  An American economist and intellectual, whose friendship with Baldwin offered emotional and creative support, and whose letters provide unique insights into Baldwin’s process (34:53).
• Joran Kazak
  French painter and collaborator on Little Man, Little Man, subject of the fourth part of Boggs’s book.

6. Exile, Return, and the Global Frame

• Paris and Switzerland
  Paris offered Baldwin both escape and creative space; Switzerland (the setting for "Stranger in the Village") deepened his critical understanding of race and 'innocence.'

  “He almost needed the experience of being a total outsider. He was comfortable in that, in a way, because that’s how he felt growing up in Harlem.” (37:06, Nicholas Boggs)

• Turkey
  Istanbul became a refuge where Baldwin finished pivotal works (Another Country, The Fire Next Time) and found creative rejuvenation.

  “Turkey saved his life because this was a moment when he was once again really, really down...He just feels reborn.” (56:04, Nicholas Boggs)

7. The Civil Rights Movement: From Reluctant Witness to Icon

• Baldwin as Witness
  Emphasized bearing witness rather than assuming the role of a spokesman or organizer.

  “He saw himself, though, not as a spokesman, but as a witness.” (60:39, Boggs)

• High-profile Activism
  Debates (William F. Buckley), media appearances, and meetings with RFK positioned Baldwin in the center of cultural and political debates.
• Blues for Mr. Charlie and Activist Theater
  Resistance to censorship in theater reflected Baldwin's insistence on telling hard truths, even at personal and professional risk.

  “Here Baldwin was acting like...the closing of the play was the march on Washington, right? And he, like, got a pamphlet going and got all his famous friends involved…” (63:03, Boggs)

8. Fame, Flaws, and Financial Instability

• Charmed Survival, Messy Logistics
  Despite charisma and network, Baldwin was "always broke," often reliant on loans and the generosity of friends.
• Complicated Relationships
  Baldwin could be difficult in daily life, careless with money and belongings, but always passionate about art and community.
• Mental Health
  Struggled with depression and suicidal thoughts—compounded by society’s racism, homophobia, and personal trauma.

  “The larger issue is more social. I mean, it’s just the way that he grew up as a sensitive, brilliant black man in an America that did not want him and did not treat him correctly.” (47:12, Boggs)

9. The FBI and Surveillance

• Constant Monitoring
  Baldwin was acutely aware the FBI followed him.

  "He would joke about it: ‘give my regards to J. Edgar when you try to reach me.’...The files themselves reflect something quite different. He says all the time, like, you know, is he a pervert?" (66:37, 68:01, Boggs)

• Sexuality, Race, and Hoover’s Obsession
  Baldwin characterized J. Edgar Hoover as "the 20th century’s greatest voyeur," noting how the surveillance regime’s attitudes mirrored dominant culture’s fear and voyeurism towards queer and Black lives.

10. Little Man, Little Man and Lost Histories

• Rediscovery of a Children's Book
  Baldwin’s only children’s book, co-created with Joran Kazak, foregrounded Black urban childhood in vernacular English.

  “A children’s book for adults...it was really sort of just very subversive for its time.” (69:16, Boggs)

• Research Journey
  Boggs’s search for Kazak, thought to be dead, epitomizes how new biographical discoveries remain possible in the digital age.

11. Later Years and Legacy

• AIDS, Silence, and Structural Critique
  Baldwin only addressed HIV/AIDS in depth once, but anticipated how the epidemic would be weaponized against marginalized communities.

  “He was very, I think, prescient and very right about what was happening and sort of the psychological and the psycho-political dimensions of how HIV and AIDS was mobilized…” (73:03, Boggs)

• Death and Evolving Memory
  Baldwin died of stomach cancer in 1987. Boggs and Stewart reflect on how his legacy has since grown, imagining how obituaries might be written today.

  “I think now it’s fully understood… that he is one of, if not the most important writer of the 20th century.” (75:27, Boggs)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Baldwin’s code in love:
  “Baldwin had a code in love. And it could be very hard on people. You know, I think it was…because he grew up, quote, unquote, illegitimate, he had this sense, he said, well, listen, you have to marry her.” (38:16, Boggs)
• On the importance of love in activism:
  “He called on black and white Americans to turn to each other like lovers. Right. He was being metaphorical here…but to sort of try to understand each other the way that lovers must.” (04:54, Boggs)
• On the trauma of being an outsider:
  “He almost like, needed the experience of being a total outsider. He was comfortable in that, in a way, because that’s how he felt growing up in Harlem.” (37:06, Boggs)
• On finding the Corsica house:
  “Always bring your mother. And it was from Corsica that he wrote this gorgeous letter to his own mother that is really important.” (49:32, Boggs)
• On the FBI’s surveillance:
  “Baldwin called Hoover like the 20th century’s greatest voyeur, something like that. So I think Hoover...was kind of titillated by Baldwin in a certain sense.” (68:01, Boggs)
• On Baldwin’s legacy:
  “It really felt right for it to be a love story. So it really has kind of been a love fest since it came out. And I can’t complain.” (76:26, Boggs)

Timestamps for Major Segments

• Beginnings & Archives – 00:38–04:34
• Childhood, Family, and Harlem – 06:01–11:05
• Teachers/Mentors: Bill Miller & Countee Cullen – 11:10–14:33
• Buford Delaney (Spiritual Father) – 15:09–19:25
• Delaney, Sexuality, and Self-Discovery – 19:56–21:29
• Marlon Brando & Celebrity Friendship – 21:29–22:23
• Artistic Life & Early Struggles – 22:23–24:26
• Richard Wright & Publishing Hurdles – 24:21–25:30
• Rosenwald Fellowship & Expatriation – 25:30–26:46
• Lucien Habersberger & Paris Years – 30:59–34:31
• Mary Painter and Creative Community – 34:31–36:06
• Switzerland and Outsider Reflections – 36:11–38:01
• Release of Go Tell It On The Mountain, Literary Reception – 41:17–43:13
• Giovanni’s Room and Gay American Literature – 43:33–44:35
• Financial Instability, Yaddo Residency, & Artistic Process – 44:35–47:14
• Corsica, Depression, and Political Awakening – 49:10–52:08
• Civil Rights, Activism, and Moral Responsibility – 54:38–61:41
• Blues for Mr. Charlie & Broadway Activism – 61:41–63:53
• Kennedy Meeting & Strategic Activism – 64:26–66:34
• FBI Surveillance & Sexuality – 66:34–68:43
• Little Man, Little Man & Research Journey – 68:43–71:53
• Baldwin and HIV/AIDS – 71:55–74:15
• Upon Baldwin’s Death: Legacies and Obituaries – 74:15–75:43
• Reflections on the Book’s Reception & Legacy – 75:45–77:14

Final Thoughts

This in-depth interview delves into the intersections of love, art, sexuality, and activism in James Baldwin’s life. Drawing on new resources and a fresh interpretive lens, Nicholas Boggs paints a nuanced portrait of Baldwin’s humanity and enduring relevance. Whether you are new to Baldwin or a longtime admirer, this episode provides both critical insights and compelling storytelling about a literary giant whose understanding of love shaped not only his art, but his efforts to reshape a broken society.