Quick Facts
Biography
Wil Haygood (born 1954 in Columbus, Ohio) is an American journalist and author who is known for his 2008 Washington Post article "A Butler Well Served By This Election", about Eugene Allen, which served as the basis for the 2013 movie The Butler. Since then, Haygood has written a book about Allen, The Butler: A Witness to History. While being interviewed on the radio program Conversations with Allan Wolper on WBGO 88.3FM, Haygood revealed that he had tracked down another White House butler. At the last minute, this butler, who had served three presidents, refused to be interviewed; the family apparently did not want his story out against the parallel story of the election of President Barack Obama. Haygood is a fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and a professor at Miami University.
Books
- Two on the River, 1986
- King of Cats: The Life and Times of Adam Clayton Powell Jr., 1993
- The Haygoods of Columbus, 1997
- In Black and White: the Life of Sammy Davis Jr., 2003
- Sweet Thunder: The Life and Times of Sugar Ray Robinson, 2009
- The Butler: A Witness to History, 2013
- Showdown: Thurgood Marshall and the Supreme Court Nomination That Changed America, 2015