Author Gail Lumet Buckley—the daughter of Lena Horne and one-time wife of Sidney Lumet—died at her Santa Monica home on July 18. She was 86. In 1986 she published The Hornes: An American Family, followed up by The Black Calhouns: From Civil War to Civil Rights with One African American Family. In 2016; she also wrote about black members of the US military and the Catholic church. Buckley’s career unfolded when she discovered one of her mother’s old trunks: “There were photographs, letters, bills, notes, speakeasy tickets, gambling receipts, college diplomas . . . It all unfolded like a detective story — here is what was happening in 1875, there’s what went on in 1895. And then to read black American history, as I did extensively, and put that on top of it; that’s an exciting experience.” Buckley is survived by her daughters, producers Amy Lumet and Jenny Lumet.
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