Brain Snacks: Tasty Tidbits of Knowledge
Like Mick, Carson McCullers loved music and was actually studying to become a pianist. She even landed a spot in Julliard and went to New York to attend, but when she got there, she lost the tuition money on the subway (no joke). Lucky for us, she decided to stay in New York anyway to try to become a writer. (Source.)
For a while in the 1940s, Carson lived in the February House http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/books/review/06VAILLL.html with a very eclectic group of roommates, including George Davis, literary editor for <em>Harper's Bazar</em>, poet W.H. Auden and Gypsy Rose Lee. (Source.)
We know this book is pretty depressing, but McCullers' life wasn't all that rosy either. She suffered rheumatic fever when she was a teenager and had poor health for the rest of her life, including a series of strokes, blindness, and paralysis. (Source.)
Our author married Reeves McCullers twice (they divorced once in 1941 and then reconciled), kind of like Lucile and Leroy Wilson. And you're probably not surprised that Reeves and Carson didn't have the healthiest relationship – Reeves eventually committed suicide in 1953. (Source.)