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Biography of a Race
won the Pulitzer Prize. Of few other African American figures—with the exception of Frederick Douglass in the nineteenth century and perhaps, in his short life, Martin Luther King, Jr., in the twentieth—would it be possible to entitle the record of one man’s life also a biography of his people.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
    My first tribute here is to Lorraine Hansberry, the young African American woman playwright to whom the American theater and African American theater owe so much. It is impossible to read her words in work after work—or see her plays on stage or film—and not feel astonished anew at the depth of the perception and powers of expression of this artist.
    My second tribute is to Robert Nemiroff for the dedication and integrity of his work on behalf of the playwright and lovers of art and beauty everywhere. Now, in reviewing his acknowledgments in
To Be Young, Gifted and Black
(1969), his seminal work portraying Hansberry in her own words, I am struck by how much theater and personal history is incorporated in his prefatory pages as he listed the extraordinary numbers of people (from the beginning, following the loss of the playwright) who have contributed to the perpetuation of the Hansberry legacy.
    Two of the persons who, like Bob, are no longer with us, I should like to again recall: his assistant Charlotte Zaltzberg, who worked with him unstintingly in mutual love for a project in which both joy and satisfaction could be derived from the very exposure to so rich a lore of human creativity. The second person, the late Howard Hausman, whom Bob described as “the first agent I ever met who proved not a ‘necessary evil,’ but a true friend of art.” Howie and his wife, Marie, became equally my friends. I will be forever grateful for Howie’s deep appreciation of Hansberry’s genius and Bob’s commitment, and his never-failing encouragement of my work.
    Others to whom I am indebted who were present at that time—or entered the picture shortly thereafter—are Seymour Baldash, Bob’s friend and accountant (and mine); Alan Bomser, our lawyerand friend; and Samuel Liff, faithful agent and friend. All three have helped to sustain me and assisted me in carrying Bob’s work forward.
    Two patrons who believed in my husband provided invaluable assistance. Without them, the difficulties of getting Hansberry’s work before the public would have been infinitely harder. They are Estelle Frank, a longtime friend, and Sol Medoff (and his wife, Faye), committed human beings who simply believed in Hansberry and Bob and acted on the strength of the belief.
    Other special persons to whom I owe a great debt of gratitude include the husband and wife team Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, perhaps the most legendary of African American artists of stage, screen, and television of our times. Both Davis and Dee are also writers (Ruby Dee is a lyrical poet; Ossie Davis, an essayist and playwright). From the time of Lorraine’s death, they responded whenever Bob called (which was often) and have continued to do so for me: responded with love, and patience, and instant dedication to whatever project from our household is underway. Their support of me on Bob’s death was, as their lives are, deeply affirming.
    Margaret B. Wilkerson, Hansberry’s biographer, has brought to her work in researching Hansberry’s life a thorough approach and respect for the process, and humility in having the responsibility for presentation and treatment of the artist as a private person and creator. Highly capable and creative, Wilkerson, through her knowledge of Hansberry, of her times, of the African American experience, and of the theater, helps immeasurably to fill the void of Bob’s loss.
    Chiz Schultz, one of the original producers of
To Be Young, Gifted and Black
and sensitive stage, film, and TV producer, has continued to sustain and support my work. A man of total integrity, he too enriches the arts by his professionalism and