Ezra Jack Keats' Neighborhood

Ezra Jack Keats' Neighborhood Ezra Jack Keats was born seventy-five years ago on March 11, 1916, in the East New York section of Brooklyn. I met him in 1930 in Junior High School 149 (now called the Danny Kaye Junior High School; Kaye was our contemporary and school clown at the time) , ' and our friendship remained firm until the sad day in 1983 when I felt his life slipping away in my hand. Keats is best known as an urban author and illustrator of children's books, and his works can best be understood by reference to the time and place of his youth, which spans the period from 1916 to 1940. As you know, there was the Great Depression in the thirties. Unemployment was a crushing burden to countless families, including Ezra's. In our neighborhood, men skilled for example in carpentry, plumbing, and painting would assemble at specific street corners with their tools semi-wrapped in newspaper, waiting for someone to come by who wanted an odd job done. Men sold apples on street corners. People pawned their watches, their rings so that they might buy food. The street call "I cash clothes" could be heard several times a week. Junk dealers came around frequently, offering small sums for objects that might be discarded. They appear in Louis' Search. Poverty and hunger were everywhere . It was common to see a young man or woman on a box, espousing a course of action that would forever end the cycle of boom and bust. Such soapbox lectures drew crowds, and since tempers were short, arguments erupted that were often settled physically. Ezra listened to many of these discourses, and he was certainly affected by those that were highly idealistic. This influence may be noted in the complete absence in his works of any ethnic, racial, or sexist slur. Our neighborhood in East New York consisted mainly of fourstory walk-up tenements, all connected in a solid phalanx across an entire block. There were four apartments on each floor, and the sights, sounds, and smells that were met on each landing were pictured in his Apt. 3 and Dreams . The roof was a refuge where one could go to get a feeling of spaciousness, to see the full expanse of the sky, to feel free as a bird. Scenes from the roof were depicted in the earliest oil paintings of Keats. The roof was also a place to fly a kite made of a paper bag and fruit-box wood. It was thrilling to send small paper messages up along the string, where, urged by the wind, they would climb to the kite itself. These messages were collected when the kite was drawn in. 53 Ezra's family was poor, and as did many other families, ran up an embarrassing debt in the local grocery. Children tried to earn money. They sold lollipops, pretzels, and ice cream on the beach at Coney Island; they carried telephone messages from the candy store (the only t'elephone in the neighborhood) to the tenements; they gave out handbills. The moneys we earned went into the family till. Every penny counted. Garbage cans tended to overflow. Garbage cans decorate the scenes of Keats' books. Games that required no expense were the most popular. We played Hide-and-Go-Seek, and other games whose official names I do not know, such as Off the Drydock, Ring-a Leavio, May I, and Pyramid. Ball games included handball, punch ball, stick ball, softball, and touch tackle. In Junior High School 149, Ezra won the drawing medal, and this medal was precious to him. Although Ezra won many awards in his life, the Junior High medal always accompanied him, and it resides in the same box, now tattered. The thrill of winning a prize is featured in Pet Show. The medals awarded by the Foundation are a reflection of the importance of that medal to Ezra. In high school, Ezra was of course the premier artist, and he illustrated the yearbook. Upon graduation from high school, Ezra found it necessary to seek work that would help support the family. Jobs were hard to get. Although he was a...