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Books We Love is NPR's list of best reads. One of this year's picks is called "Toni At Random: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship" by Dana A. Williams. It's a biography of Toni Morrison's time as a book editor, years before she became a famous author. So what was it like to work with her? NPR's Tinbete Ermyas tracked down some of her writers to find out.
TINBETE ERMYAS, BYLINE: Angela Y. Davis never wanted to write a book about her life.
ANGELA DAVIS: I was utterly opposed to writing an autobiography.
ERMYAS: It was 1972, and she had just been acquitted of kidnapping, conspiracy and murder charges related to a courthouse shooting.
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UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: This weekend in California, Angela Davis was acquitted of all criminal charges, and reactions to that decision have come from all over the world with a summary...
ERMYAS: The case thrust Davis into the spotlight.
DAVIS: It was a very uncomfortable time for me because I had never imagined myself at the center of public attention.
ERMYAS: So the idea of writing a book felt odd, that is, until she met an interested editor at Random House, Toni Morrison.
DAVIS: I think she understood better than I did at that time that a political autobiography could be a very important contribution.
ERMYAS: So Davis got to work.
DAVIS: I produced the first draft, which was about 700 pages. And I basically, you know, wrote in a kind of stream of consciousness way.
ERMYAS: That's when the editing began. Morrison encouraged Davis to be less analytical in her writing.
DAVIS: And so she often asked me questions about, you know, what did the place look like? You know, what was the furniture? Who else was in the room? How did they look?
ERMYAS: The editing took years. Davis moved in to Morrison's home in Spring Valley, New York, and they grew close.
DAVIS: Relationship with her became a relationship with her two sons and her cat. I realized - first realized I was allergic to cats (laughter) as a result of Toni's cat.
ERMYAS: This caring nature was a hallmark of Morrison's style, part editor, part auntie.
DANA WILLIAMS: To think about how remarkably generous she was as a writer herself, mentoring but also publishing a writer who is much younger is, like, quintessential Black woman auntie.
ERMYAS: Dana Williams is the author of "Toni At Random: The Iconic Writer's Legendary Editorship." She says Morrison's style involved tough love.
WILLIAMS: She didn't hold any punches when it came to helping people to understand that she was the authority. She had these back-and-forths (ph) with writers who all thought that they knew better about the cover. They knew better about the title. They knew better about the industry in a general sense.
DAVIS: There were moments of disagreement and tension all the time.
ERMYAS: Angela Davis remembers this well.
DAVIS: We had arguments. But those arguments were arguments with a friend. I knew that she had my best interest at heart.
BARBARA CHASE-RIBOUD: I never knew whether she was going to slap me or whether she was going to kiss me.
ERMYAS: Barbara Chase-Riboud worked with Morrison on her 1974 poetry collection titled, "From Memphis & Peking."
CHASE-RIBOUD: We spent a lot of time laughing, and we spent a lot of time fighting.
ERMYAS: Morrison lived with Chase-Riboud in France one summer to edit the book.
CHASE-RIBOUD: What I remember most is her protectiveness of not only the book but also of me.
ERMYAS: Protectiveness that led to tension.
CHASE-RIBOUD: What does it feel like if you had your mom as an editor telling you, you know, where to put your commas? And I didn't know how to explain it, except that it was very fraught.
ERMYAS: The editing was tough, but their connection was strong. Chase-Riboud says they bonded over raising two young boys.
CHASE-RIBOUD: That's the magic period. That's the period where we became friends, and then editor and author, and then finally mothers and companions.
ERMYAS: Both writers say Morrison was always multitasking. Angela Davis remembers busy mornings at her house. They involved Toni making breakfast, dropping off her kids at school and a one-hour drive to the office.
DAVIS: I just recall that traffic would stop, and a yellow pad would come out, and she would jot things down. And she did this constantly. While she was cooking, she would jot things down. She was always writing down ideas. I'd never ask her what she was writing, but as it turned out, she was working on "Song Of Solomon" at that time.
ERMYAS: Above all else, Davis says Morrison was a problem-solver. She recalls a time when they flew from the Caribbean back to New York.
DAVIS: And when we arrived, we realized we had no money.
ERMYAS: They couldn't get a cab and were stranded. Then Morrison remembered they had been gifted some bottles of liquor on their trip.
DAVIS: So Toni said, OK, let me see if I can make a deal with this cab driver. And she said, we don't have any cash, but what would, like, three bottles of Cutty Sark do for - I mean, would you be willing to drive us to Spring Valley for that? (Laughter) And of course, the cab driver was so happy. He says absolutely. And that is how we made our way back to her house.
ERMYAS: She says no matter the challenge, Toni was there to help. Tinbete Ermyas, NPR News.
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