Hi George:

Thanks so much for your comments on “Passing Strange”

One of the fascinating stories about the book is the Flushing NY neighborhood where Clarence King and his family lived. Ms. Sandweiss’ research and description will intrigue you, BJ, me and others who lived in Queens or had family connections there.

We certainly remember the later Queens neighborhoods like Corona, East Elmhurst, Jamaica, St. Albans, and Springfield Gardens where middle class Blacks lived. They followed the “early settlers” like Lena Horne, Count Basie, Louis Armstrong and James Brown etc.

I recently found a famous African American who lived in Flushing during the same time as Clarence King and his family.

His name was Lewis Howard Latimer. MIT describes inventor Latimer as “…Latimer made his most important scientific contributions, by improving the light bulb invented by Edison.”

To find out more about Lewis Henry Latimore and his inventions, please click on the link below to MIT’s biography.

Regards,

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