The Crossing (28 page)

Read The Crossing Online

Authors: Howard Fast

BOOK: The Crossing
5.5Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub

In 1953, the Soviet Union awarded Fast the International Peace Prize. This photo from the ceremony shows the performer, publisher, and civil rights activist Paul Robeson delivering a speech before presenting Fast (seated, second from left) with the prestigious award. Robeson and Fast came to know each other through their participation in leftist political causes during the 1940s and were friends for many years. Like Fast, Robeson was called before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the McCarthy era and invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions. This led to Robeson's work being banned in the United States, a situation that Robeson, unlike Fast, never completely overcame. In a late interview Fast cited Robeson as one of the forgotten heroes of the twentieth century. “Paul,” he said, “was an extraordinary man.” Also shown (from left to right): Essie Robeson, Mrs. Mellisk, Dr. W.E.B. Du Bois, Rachel Fast, and Bette Fast. (Photo courtesy of Julius Lazarus and the author.)

Howard and Bette Fast in California in 1976. The couple relocated to the West Coast after Fast grew disgruntled over the poor reception of his novel
The Hessian
. While in California, Fast temporarily gave up writing novels to work as a screenwriter, but, like many novelists before him, found the business disheartening. “In L.A. you work like hell because there is nothing else to do, unless you are cheating on your wife,” he told
People
after he had moved back East in the 1980s. Of course, Fast, an ardent nature-lover, did enjoy California's scenic beauty and eventually set many of his novels—including
The Immigrant's Daughter
and the bestselling Masao Masuto detective series—in the state.

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this ebook onscreen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of the publisher.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

copyright © 1971, 1999 by Howard Fast

cover design by Jason Gabbert

This edition published in 2011 by Open Road Integrated Media

180 Varick Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com

EBOOKS BY HOWARD FAST

FROM OPEN ROAD MEDIA

Available wherever ebooks are sold

FIND OUT MORE AT
WWW.OPENROADMEDIA.COM

FOLLOW US
:
@openroadmedia
and
Facebook.com/OpenRoadMedia

Videos, Archival Documents,
and
New Releases

Sign up for the Open Road Media
newsletter and get news delivered
straight to your inbox.

FOLLOW US:
@openroadmedia
and
Facebook.com/OpenRoadMedia

Other books

The Switch by J.C. Emery
A Learning Experience 2: Hard Lessons by Christopher G. Nuttall
Rise of the Seven by Wright, Melissa
El pozo de la muerte by Lincoln Child Douglas Preston
Alaskan Nights by Anna Leigh Keaton
The Goblin Corps by Marmell, Ari
The Sibylline Oracle by Colvin, Delia
The Italian's Future Bride by Reid, Michelle