His music collection was still mostly intact: lots of classical music, and jazz from the ’50s (lots of Miles Davis, but none from the ’60s or later). We’d hoped to see the books he read and used to research his articles, but most of them were already gone (I seem to recall a lonely copy of Alex Haley’s Roots on one of the office’s shelves).
We visited his home to see what fueled his spirit, his passion, his focused intellect.Īlas, in some respects we were disappointed. He had passed a few short weeks before this estate sale, a body blow to Black Chicagoans who had read his deeply considered, impassioned Black history texts in Ebony‘s pages for years. That well-lived life belonged to Lerone Bennett, Jr., the esteemed senior editor of Ebony magazine. And there was much of that: magnificent sculpture framed pictures and certificates a sound system of old-school stereo components a wardrobe with items you’d snag immediately if you saw them at a thrift shop, for their quality and taste. We were drawn there by the chance to see, and perhaps acquire, evidence of a life well lived.
There was also a large living room, which wrapped around into a small dining area, all with magnificent views. It had a small kitchenette, better for quick meals and entertaining guests than preparing extravagant feasts. Several rooms spooled off from the central hallway: four bedrooms, two bathrooms, and an office space and entertainment area which both overlooked the lake. The domicile itself was not remarkable, save for its deceptive spaciousness. It was a raw, dreary Saturday morning in April 2018 when a few dozen or so of us made a pilgrimage to a Hyde Park condo along South Lake Shore Drive in Chicago.
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