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Handwritten, typed and printout drafts, correspondence, screenplays, playscripts,
research
materials and notes, legal and editorial, records, photographs, audio and video recordings,
awards, books, notebooks, journals, magazines, and other periodicals, newspaper clippings,
periodicals galley proofs, and maps document the life work and family of Clancy Sigal
from
the mid-1800s to 2008. The five series are arranged by size and/or importance: I.
Writings,
1950s-2007; II. Career and Personal, 1800s-2007; III. Journals and Notebooks, 1950s-2005;
IV. Correspondence and Name Files, 1943-2008; V. Clippings, 1958-2005. |
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Series I. is divided into two subseries: A. Long Works and B. Short Works. The Series
comprises over a third of the collection and documents Sigal’s literary activities
from the
1950s to 2007. In addition to his five published novels, several unpublished screenplays
and
one unpublished novel are represented. Research materials relating to military desertion
during the Vietnam War and mining and miner’s rights in England, from which he drew
inspiration for his novels and articles, are also well represented. |
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Subseries A. Long Works, includes handwritten, typed and printout drafts, correspondence,
clippings, and research materials for Going Away (1963), The Secret Defector (1992), and A Woman of Uncertain Character (2006). Weekend in Dinlock (1960), and Zone of the Interior (1976), are represented with notes,
correspondence, publicity and extensive research materials, but lack drafts. Sigal’s
writing
process is particularly well documented in materials for A Woman of Uncertain Character (2006). Extensive notes and research
materials relating to Chicago (the primary setting of the work) along with numerous
printout
chapter drafts and draft fragments record the evolution of this autobiographical work.
Chapter drafts for A Woman of Uncertain Character are listed in the
Index of Works. The subseries also includes two unrealized screenplays, an unrealized
novel
with co-author Barbara Probst Solomon, along with an unrealized essay collection.
Also
included are extensive research materials, chapter drafts, draft screenplays, and
draft
essays regarding military desertion, especially during the Vietnam War, all of which
are
organized under Sigal’s working title The Uses of Treason. The
subseries is arranged alphabetically by title. All titles in this series are listed
in the
Index of Works. |
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Subseries B. Short Works, includes clippings, correspondence, and research materials
along
with numerous drafts of published and unpublished essays, short stories, op-eds, articles,
interviews, and chapter drafts. This subseries also includes eleven distinct playscripts
all
addressed to the same London location. A few chapter drafts from his longer works
are
intermingled with items in this subseries. The subseries is arranged alphabetically
by title
and all titles are listed in the Index of Works. |
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Series II. Personal and Career, is the second largest series and documents Sigal’s
family
origins, his early years working for the Jaffe Agency, and his road trips through
to his
later career as a successful journalist and author. Materials relating to his UCLA
graduating class of 1950 and their 1975 reunion constitute a significant portion of
this
series. Correspondence, draft essays, and research materials regarding Watergate and
UCLA
graduates John Ehrlichman and Bob Haldeman are well represented including drafts of
an
unpublished manuscript entitled "Revenge of the Commie Nerds or My
Watergate Hangup". Photographs (2 boxes) from the 1800s to the 2000s record the
life of Clancy Sigal, family, and friends. The series is arranged alphabetically.
All drafts
in this series are listed in the Index of Works under "Jaffe Agency" and "UCLA Reunion". |
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Series III. Journals and Notebooks, includes typed and handwritten, diaries, and journal
entries documenting Sigal’s early years on the road, his departure from America, experiences
with LSD and R. D. Laing, his relationship with Doris Lessing, his 1984 heart attack,
and
other significant events in Sigal’s life. Comingled with these materials are numerous
notepads and pocket notebooks with Sigal’s handwritten contact lists with names, addresses,
phone numbers, and journalistic scribbles, along with some research notes on topics
such as
the Young Americans for Freedom, and Thurcroft. This series is arranged chronologically. |
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Series IV. Correspondence and Name Files, spans seven boxes and is organized alphabetically
by name. Individuals are represented either by incoming and outgoing letters, as subject
and
correspondent, or as subject only. Name files can include correspondence, clippings,
photographs, bound volumes, and typescripts by or about the individual. Prominent
subjects
include Enid Balint, Brendan Behan, R. D. Laing, and Grover Lewis.
Short-stories-as-fictionalized-accounts record his well-known relationship with Doris
Lessing. These are listed in the Index of Works under "Doris Lessing". The series includes incoming and outgoing letters
with friends, colleagues, editors, military deserters, activists, family, and other
associates. Prominent correspondents include Richard Attenborough, Enid Balint, the
Central
Intelligence Agency, the Fabian Society, Frances Goldin Literary Agent, E. M. Forster,
Farrar Straus and Giroux, Harper Collins Publishers, Mervyn Jones, R. D. Laing, Doris
Lessing, Barbara Probst Solomon, Deborah Treisman, the United States Federal Bureau
of
Investigation, and Margaret Walters. Correspondence with his former wife Margaret
Walters
(divorced 1989) is also located in Series II. Personal and Career where they take
the form
of extensive journal entries/notes on UCLA and Watergate. |
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Series V. Clippings, gives ample witness to his publishing activities as a journalist,
reviewer, and essayist. Spanning five decades, this series includes published versions
of
Sigal’s book, television, and theatre reviews; interviews; Guardian articles; New York Times Op-Eds; and
Los Angeles Times articles and obituaries. The series is arranged
alphabetically by material type, then chronologically. |