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The Haygoods of Columbus: A Love Story
Wil Haygood's memoir of his home town of Columbus, Ohio, is an uplifting yet unsparing celebration of the ties that bind all loving American families. The lives of the Haygoods - grandmother a hotel cook, mother a nightlife-loving waitress, father mostly absent, one brother a legendary pimp, the other a star-crossed dreamer, sisters whose fates included very little disposable income - were all intertwined with that of Mount Vernon Avenue, an eclectic, seductive street of shops, juke joints, and speakeasies at the epicenter of Columbus's black community. Wil loved that avenue. Gifted and ambitious, he eventually found his first reporting terrain there, writing for the local paper, the Call & Post, as the first waves of urban renewal began to shake and shift the city of his childhood. Haygood writes of his early passions: his fierce love for his restless mother, his enthusiasm for fishing in the Olentangy River, his adolescent love of basketball, which drove him to ride buses surreptitiously across town to a school whose varsity team would have him, his adult fascination with acting, which landed him, briefly but instructively, in New York City, and his eventual passion for writing, for questioning, for digging for meaning. Most of all, this book is infused with his love for the unforgettable members of his family, whose lives are charted against the rise and fall of a great neighborhood in a tumultuous era. The Haygoods of Columbus is a warmhearted, amusing, and bittersweet book that Americans will find hard to forget.
360 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1997
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
December 10, 2012
An exciting book to read as a Columbus native. The details of life growing up in my city were interesting, providing extra layers of depth and historical understanding as well as cultural.
Wil's story of Black Columbus, and his family's place in it made me feel invested. The book is so real, I felt like I could drive down the street and pick out the characters in the day to day life. I also understand the history of the families with whom I work in these same schools Haygood mentions.
Wil's story of Black Columbus, and his family's place in it made me feel invested. The book is so real, I felt like I could drive down the street and pick out the characters in the day to day life. I also understand the history of the families with whom I work in these same schools Haygood mentions.
July 4, 2013
This is a memoir/history of the author's family in Columbus. Uncovering the many overlaying histories of my adopted hometown has been fascinating for me and this is an intimate look into a history I could not know any other way--the history of the "other side of town" from my suburb (which once banned the residents of Haygood's part of town).
December 12, 2021
Summary: A memoir of Haygood’s growing up years in Columbus, his extended family, the glory and decline of Mt. Vernon Avenue, and finding his calling as a writer.
Wil Haygood is a distinguished journalist and biographer, having written books on Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Sammy Davis, Jr. He wrote “A Butler Well Served by This Election,” which served as the basis of the 2013 movie, The Butler, A Witness to History. And he grew up in my current home town of Columbus, Ohio.
This work is one of his earlier works, after becoming established as a journalist with The Boston Globe (he would later write for The Washington Post). In it, he describes what it was like to grow up in Columbus. It’s a story of fishing on the Olentangy River, living for a time with his mother in the Bolivar Arms Apartments (an urban renewal project), and aspiring to play basketball, even faking residency in several different school districts to get a chance to play. He was never very good, but got enough of an education to get into Miami University, where an injury ended his career, and he majored in literature.
The book is subtitled “a family memoir,” and is as much about his family as anything. His parents met in the South and his father Jack, who eventually divorced his mother, Elvira, moved to Columbus because several relatives had jobs there. Elvira followed, Wil and his twin sister Wonder were born, and after the divorce, they moved into Elvira’s parents, Jimmy and Emily Burke. It’s a story of a troubled family. Haygood often didn’t know if Elvira would return from her jaunts on Mt. Vernon Avenue. His step-brother, “Macaroni” was a pimp and a hustler who only could evade the law so long. Another brother, Harry, had dreams of stardom, ending up in a homeless camp in Marin County. I suspect the influence of Jimmy and Emily, hard-working folks who owned their home in Weinland Park may have rubbed off on Wil. Often, it was will, after he was established, who would send money, and help one or another when they were down.
It’s a story about the glory days and decline of Mt. Vernon Avenue, a main street running east from downtown Columbus (before the freeways) that was the cultural heart of the Black community–theaters, jazz joints, groceries, restaurants and clothing shops and churches. Haygood focuses on Carl Brown’s grocery. Brown established his presence by hauling fresh produce, overpriced in other stores, from the South. He describes a chain competitor that came in, and rapidly went under, and Brown’s attempts to hang on, which he did until his death, employing many youth in his store over the years.
It was also the location of The Call & Post, a black weekly newspaper under editor Amos Lynch, one of those who sought to keep Mt. Vernon Avenue alive. After graduation, Haygood attempted a career at acting, ended up back in Columbus working odd jobs, and finally, on a whim applied at The Call & Post. He had a tryout that failed, but Lynch liked his energy and called him back. He covered sports and the courts, and leveraged the position into jobs in Charleston, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, and eventually with The Boston Globe, for whom he was writing at the time of the book.
These three elements, the bonds of family even when it gets messy, the fabric of community, and the finding of calling weave together in Haygood’s account. Along the way, one glimpses the life of Columbus back in the 1950’s to 1980’s (we moved here in 1990), so it was a rich account of the backstory of our adopted home town (complete with Mayor Sensenbrenner, Woody Hayes, old downtown landmarks and Scioto Downs). I identify with the sadness of witnessing the decline of community–the story of Mt. Vernon Avenue could be the story of Market Street or Mahoning Avenue where I grew up–once-vibrant communities that are shadows of their former selves. One reflects on the mystery of finding one’s calling–how an aspiring basketball player ends up a journalist and biographer–the family influences, mentors, and the chance event of submitting an application on a whim. Finally, there are these mysterious bonds of family, a boy finding the love he longed for in his mother and father in his grandparents, how a family deals with its “black sheep” and those who struggle to find themselves, hoping that they will find redemption as “Macaroni” eventually did.
Haygood and I are the same age. His memoir makes me reflect on how the places, people, and times of our lives help shape the people we are. Our stories are different, to be sure, but the elements are not. This memoir helps me understand not only the place where I live but perhaps myself a bit better.
Wil Haygood is a distinguished journalist and biographer, having written books on Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Thurgood Marshall, Sugar Ray Robinson, and Sammy Davis, Jr. He wrote “A Butler Well Served by This Election,” which served as the basis of the 2013 movie, The Butler, A Witness to History. And he grew up in my current home town of Columbus, Ohio.
This work is one of his earlier works, after becoming established as a journalist with The Boston Globe (he would later write for The Washington Post). In it, he describes what it was like to grow up in Columbus. It’s a story of fishing on the Olentangy River, living for a time with his mother in the Bolivar Arms Apartments (an urban renewal project), and aspiring to play basketball, even faking residency in several different school districts to get a chance to play. He was never very good, but got enough of an education to get into Miami University, where an injury ended his career, and he majored in literature.
The book is subtitled “a family memoir,” and is as much about his family as anything. His parents met in the South and his father Jack, who eventually divorced his mother, Elvira, moved to Columbus because several relatives had jobs there. Elvira followed, Wil and his twin sister Wonder were born, and after the divorce, they moved into Elvira’s parents, Jimmy and Emily Burke. It’s a story of a troubled family. Haygood often didn’t know if Elvira would return from her jaunts on Mt. Vernon Avenue. His step-brother, “Macaroni” was a pimp and a hustler who only could evade the law so long. Another brother, Harry, had dreams of stardom, ending up in a homeless camp in Marin County. I suspect the influence of Jimmy and Emily, hard-working folks who owned their home in Weinland Park may have rubbed off on Wil. Often, it was will, after he was established, who would send money, and help one or another when they were down.
It’s a story about the glory days and decline of Mt. Vernon Avenue, a main street running east from downtown Columbus (before the freeways) that was the cultural heart of the Black community–theaters, jazz joints, groceries, restaurants and clothing shops and churches. Haygood focuses on Carl Brown’s grocery. Brown established his presence by hauling fresh produce, overpriced in other stores, from the South. He describes a chain competitor that came in, and rapidly went under, and Brown’s attempts to hang on, which he did until his death, employing many youth in his store over the years.
It was also the location of The Call & Post, a black weekly newspaper under editor Amos Lynch, one of those who sought to keep Mt. Vernon Avenue alive. After graduation, Haygood attempted a career at acting, ended up back in Columbus working odd jobs, and finally, on a whim applied at The Call & Post. He had a tryout that failed, but Lynch liked his energy and called him back. He covered sports and the courts, and leveraged the position into jobs in Charleston, West Virginia, Pittsburgh, and eventually with The Boston Globe, for whom he was writing at the time of the book.
These three elements, the bonds of family even when it gets messy, the fabric of community, and the finding of calling weave together in Haygood’s account. Along the way, one glimpses the life of Columbus back in the 1950’s to 1980’s (we moved here in 1990), so it was a rich account of the backstory of our adopted home town (complete with Mayor Sensenbrenner, Woody Hayes, old downtown landmarks and Scioto Downs). I identify with the sadness of witnessing the decline of community–the story of Mt. Vernon Avenue could be the story of Market Street or Mahoning Avenue where I grew up–once-vibrant communities that are shadows of their former selves. One reflects on the mystery of finding one’s calling–how an aspiring basketball player ends up a journalist and biographer–the family influences, mentors, and the chance event of submitting an application on a whim. Finally, there are these mysterious bonds of family, a boy finding the love he longed for in his mother and father in his grandparents, how a family deals with its “black sheep” and those who struggle to find themselves, hoping that they will find redemption as “Macaroni” eventually did.
Haygood and I are the same age. His memoir makes me reflect on how the places, people, and times of our lives help shape the people we are. Our stories are different, to be sure, but the elements are not. This memoir helps me understand not only the place where I live but perhaps myself a bit better.
October 4, 2025
I loved it, having some things in common with the author - growing up in Columbus as well as attending the same university Miami U class of 1974. What I liked the most was the insight gleaned about Mt. Vernon Ave - a neighborhood outside of my white, middle class upbringing. And at the same time, Wil's stories were relatable and familiar. Love of family no matter what race and the ties that bind are ageless and classless. Many little nuggets of family story and siblings growing up together. A real, solid, class act of a memoir.
March 5, 2023
I think it’s no coincidence that this book ends with a metaphor of a family ship. While very invested in reading this book I kept asking myself why the author called it a love story. Surely there were ebbs and flows of family commitment but it wasn’t until the end of this book that the storm clouds dispersed, the waters calmed, and the love story came into clear view. A beautiful story of sustaining love that every family wants to have hold them together.
July 20, 2017
It is true...you find love in the most strangest of places. This book was one such. I absolutely loved it!
The was it was written, how the story unfolds and most of all, the voice of the author.
The was it was written, how the story unfolds and most of all, the voice of the author.
January 23, 2020
A great story about family connections.
Read
October 1, 2017One of my qtrly Barnes&Noble purchases. To be read & reviewed soon.
The Haygoods were an interesting family and this story of Uncles/Aunties is told through the eyes of Wil Haygood while growing up in Columbus, Ohio. We learn all about his family members, his💘 and respect for his grandparents, Jimmy & Emily, who raised him. But also his special 💘 for his mom, Elvira with her alcoholism, his twin named Wonder with her drug addictions, and his brother Gary (Macaroni). I chuckled at his exploits to get on the school's basketball team year after year. Wil even talked his way into a summer scholarship program on the campus of Ohio Dominican College. He later graduates from Miami University.
I found the book relatable and gave it a 5 ***** rating.
The Haygoods were an interesting family and this story of Uncles/Aunties is told through the eyes of Wil Haygood while growing up in Columbus, Ohio. We learn all about his family members, his💘 and respect for his grandparents, Jimmy & Emily, who raised him. But also his special 💘 for his mom, Elvira with her alcoholism, his twin named Wonder with her drug addictions, and his brother Gary (Macaroni). I chuckled at his exploits to get on the school's basketball team year after year. Wil even talked his way into a summer scholarship program on the campus of Ohio Dominican College. He later graduates from Miami University.
I found the book relatable and gave it a 5 ***** rating.
September 7, 2015
As much as I wanted to, for the life of me I could not get into this book. Being from Columbus, I really wanted to connect and learn some Columbus history, but it just jumped around way too much for me. One paragraph was entirely about William Howard Taft, until you got to the last sentence and it was a quote by JFK (not about Taft). I just couldn't figure it out. I did enjoy a couple stories out of the entire book, but not much. (I would also think a Columbus man would know that it is THE Ohio State University, especially since he worked there for a brief stint, but he just said he worked at Ohio State University.)
Did Not Finish
December 7, 2016I read about half of this book a few years ago and need to revisit it. At that time I had no idea who Wil Haygood was, but it seems his star is on the rise.
Haygood grew up in Columbus, and went to school at East High School downtown. Although I grew up further east in the suburbs, many of the locations he talks about are familiar to me, and the stories about his family hit close to home. While his childhood was not idyllic, it was full of love and vivid memories which he shares here. The text is not aggressively organized, so it toggles between chronologically ordered stories and a stream-of-consciousness style, but it is readable.
Haygood grew up in Columbus, and went to school at East High School downtown. Although I grew up further east in the suburbs, many of the locations he talks about are familiar to me, and the stories about his family hit close to home. While his childhood was not idyllic, it was full of love and vivid memories which he shares here. The text is not aggressively organized, so it toggles between chronologically ordered stories and a stream-of-consciousness style, but it is readable.
December 11, 2013
I started this book and it seemed like it was going to be a good story but I never could get into it as the author kept jumping around and I would get lost on the time frame. There were people he would mention in passing that you wanted to know more about but you had no idea when you would get back to it. It was like I was being teased that there was a great story but I was never going to get to it.
February 15, 2015
A different look at growing up in Columbus.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews