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| Barbara Neely, author of Blanche White mystery series, dies at 78 | Barbara Neely, author of Blanche White mystery series, dies at 78 |
| (about 20 hours later) | |
| Barbara Neely, a mystery writer whose heroine, an African American housekeeper turned sleuth named Blanche White, was one of the first black female fictional detectives and starred in a series of novels that used the whodunit as a potent tool for racial and social commentary, died March 2 at a hospital in Philadelphia. She was 78. | Barbara Neely, a mystery writer whose heroine, an African American housekeeper turned sleuth named Blanche White, was one of the first black female fictional detectives and starred in a series of novels that used the whodunit as a potent tool for racial and social commentary, died March 2 at a hospital in Philadelphia. She was 78. |
| The cause was a heart ailment, said her sister, Vanessa Neely-Peterson. | The cause was a heart ailment, said her sister, Vanessa Neely-Peterson. |
| Blanche White — her name meant “white” two times over — was the titular protagonist of four mysteries by Ms. Neely, published between 1992 and 2000. Blanche was not the first black detective, and Ms. Neely was not the first black author, in the genre of detective fiction. But Essence magazine described her debut novel, “Blanche on the Lam,” as “the first mystery by a black woman with a black woman as the heroine.” | Blanche White — her name meant “white” two times over — was the titular protagonist of four mysteries by Ms. Neely, published between 1992 and 2000. Blanche was not the first black detective, and Ms. Neely was not the first black author, in the genre of detective fiction. But Essence magazine described her debut novel, “Blanche on the Lam,” as “the first mystery by a black woman with a black woman as the heroine.” |
| Blanche became a favorite among many mystery aficionados, who found in her a sleuth unlike most any of those who previously populated the genre. She was, in Ms. Neely’s description, not of “the age, the color or the size generally considered beautiful in America.” But she was possessed of an uncanny ability, as Washington Post book reviewer Maureen Corrigan once observed, to find “the dust bunnies under her employers’ couches as well as the skeletons in their closets.” | Blanche became a favorite among many mystery aficionados, who found in her a sleuth unlike most any of those who previously populated the genre. She was, in Ms. Neely’s description, not of “the age, the color or the size generally considered beautiful in America.” But she was possessed of an uncanny ability, as Washington Post book reviewer Maureen Corrigan once observed, to find “the dust bunnies under her employers’ couches as well as the skeletons in their closets.” |
| “Who knows more about you than the person who sweeps under your bed?” Ms. Neely remarked to the Boston Herald. “A cleaning person is not noticed. Blanche’s invisibility allows her to overhear all kinds of things. Nobody is concerned about talking in front of their vacuum cleaner.” | “Who knows more about you than the person who sweeps under your bed?” Ms. Neely remarked to the Boston Herald. “A cleaning person is not noticed. Blanche’s invisibility allows her to overhear all kinds of things. Nobody is concerned about talking in front of their vacuum cleaner.” |
| Blanche White, maid turned sleuth in ’90s murder mystery series, is back | Blanche White, maid turned sleuth in ’90s murder mystery series, is back |
| Ms. Neely made her literary debut after she turned 50, following a career that included running a YWCA, leading a community-based correctional program for women in Pennsylvania, working for a nonprofit that served low-income women in need of housing and hosting a local radio show in Boston. | Ms. Neely made her literary debut after she turned 50, following a career that included running a YWCA, leading a community-based correctional program for women in Pennsylvania, working for a nonprofit that served low-income women in need of housing and hosting a local radio show in Boston. |
| She brought an intense awareness of social injustice to her characterization of Blanche, who is tired of white employers who “seemed to think she ought to be delighted to swab their toilets and trash cans for a pittance,” and who hold their purses conspicuously close when she is in the house. Sometimes she must solve murders, or otherwise risk being accused of them. | She brought an intense awareness of social injustice to her characterization of Blanche, who is tired of white employers who “seemed to think she ought to be delighted to swab their toilets and trash cans for a pittance,” and who hold their purses conspicuously close when she is in the house. Sometimes she must solve murders, or otherwise risk being accused of them. |
| In “Blanche on the Lam,” she works for a white family in North Carolina that Kirkus Reviews describes as “a Faulknerian cast of oddballs who may be trying to kill each other off to claim a southern fortune.” | In “Blanche on the Lam,” she works for a white family in North Carolina that Kirkus Reviews describes as “a Faulknerian cast of oddballs who may be trying to kill each other off to claim a southern fortune.” |
| By the next installment in the series, “Blanche Among the Talented Tenth” (1994), Blanche has ended up at a seaside resort in Maine where a modern-day caste system divides African Americans according to the relative shade of their skin. | By the next installment in the series, “Blanche Among the Talented Tenth” (1994), Blanche has ended up at a seaside resort in Maine where a modern-day caste system divides African Americans according to the relative shade of their skin. |
| “Blanche Cleans Up” (1998), Ms. Neely’s third book, places her in the household of a conservative Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate where scandal abounds, waiting for Blanche to untangle it. | “Blanche Cleans Up” (1998), Ms. Neely’s third book, places her in the household of a conservative Massachusetts gubernatorial candidate where scandal abounds, waiting for Blanche to untangle it. |
| “Allister Brindle looked like what Blanche called The Leadership,” reads a description of her boss: “square face, graying Kennedy hair, and squinty eyes. Was there a men’s grooming shop that specialized in making white men look like born politicians or was it a gene thing?” | “Allister Brindle looked like what Blanche called The Leadership,” reads a description of her boss: “square face, graying Kennedy hair, and squinty eyes. Was there a men’s grooming shop that specialized in making white men look like born politicians or was it a gene thing?” |
| In Ms. Neely’s final book, “Blanche Passes Go,” Blanche returns to North Carolina and is forced to confront a man who once raped her and who now appears guilty of murder. It was, in the description of Kirkus Reviews, “a trenchantly written feminist manifesto for women of color” and for “women who’ve survived abuse.” | In Ms. Neely’s final book, “Blanche Passes Go,” Blanche returns to North Carolina and is forced to confront a man who once raped her and who now appears guilty of murder. It was, in the description of Kirkus Reviews, “a trenchantly written feminist manifesto for women of color” and for “women who’ve survived abuse.” |
| Barbara Ann Neely was born Nov. 30, 1941, in Lebanon, Pa., a community with many German immigrants. As the only black student in her Catholic school, she told the Boston Globe, she “felt by turns invisible and on display.” | Barbara Ann Neely was born Nov. 30, 1941, in Lebanon, Pa., a community with many German immigrants. As the only black student in her Catholic school, she told the Boston Globe, she “felt by turns invisible and on display.” |
| Both of Ms. Neely’s grandmothers did domestic work, as did she, although only briefly. She left the job after eight days, she said, largely because she could not tolerate “a little white child looking at me as though he were God and I was something that dropped out of the dog’s behind.” | Both of Ms. Neely’s grandmothers did domestic work, as did she, although only briefly. She left the job after eight days, she said, largely because she could not tolerate “a little white child looking at me as though he were God and I was something that dropped out of the dog’s behind.” |
| Ms. Neely’s first published writings were short stories that appeared in magazines including Essence. After reading one of her stories, a publisher and an agent contacted her to ask if she might be interested in writing a longer work. | Ms. Neely’s first published writings were short stories that appeared in magazines including Essence. After reading one of her stories, a publisher and an agent contacted her to ask if she might be interested in writing a longer work. |
| She replied with a description of her project at the time — years later, in an interview published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, she half-jokingly called it “the great African American novel.” But she also offhandedly mentioned a possible character who had piqued her curiosity. The character’s name was Blanche White, and she piqued the publisher’s curiosity as well. | She replied with a description of her project at the time — years later, in an interview published in the Los Angeles Review of Books, she half-jokingly called it “the great African American novel.” But she also offhandedly mentioned a possible character who had piqued her curiosity. The character’s name was Blanche White, and she piqued the publisher’s curiosity as well. |
| Last year, the Mystery Writers of America named Ms. Neely the recipient of its Grand Master award, one of numerous honors she received for excellence in mystery writing. | Last year, the Mystery Writers of America named Ms. Neely the recipient of its Grand Master award, one of numerous honors she received for excellence in mystery writing. |
| Her husband, Jeremiah Cotton, died in 2012. Besides her sister, survivors include a brother. | |
| Ms. Neely said she shared certain attributes with Blanche — chiefly a distaste for spending “a lot of time with fools.” Also, like any character in good fiction, she observed that she experienced an evolution over the course of her life. | Ms. Neely said she shared certain attributes with Blanche — chiefly a distaste for spending “a lot of time with fools.” Also, like any character in good fiction, she observed that she experienced an evolution over the course of her life. |
| “If we’re lucky — we grow into ourselves,” she said in an interview with AARP. “We become more nuanced, more able to see the shades of gray, the thing beneath the thing. And we have less room for self-defeat, less patience for the useless and unnecessary. So we begin unloading our bags of woe, bit by bit. It’s as if the unconscious mind knows that the clock is ticking and we don’t have a moment to waste on being anyone other than the person we genuinely are.” | “If we’re lucky — we grow into ourselves,” she said in an interview with AARP. “We become more nuanced, more able to see the shades of gray, the thing beneath the thing. And we have less room for self-defeat, less patience for the useless and unnecessary. So we begin unloading our bags of woe, bit by bit. It’s as if the unconscious mind knows that the clock is ticking and we don’t have a moment to waste on being anyone other than the person we genuinely are.” |
| Read more Washington Post obituaries | Read more Washington Post obituaries |
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