Chester (Bomar) Himes - Life, Works

Writer, born in Jefferson City, Missouri, USA. He studied at Ohio State University (1926–8), was convicted of armed robbery (1928), and spent six years in prison. After his release he worked as a journalist in Cleveland, as a writer for the labour movement, and at various other jobs. His early novels, such as Lonely Crusade (1947), tended to focus on racial issues in contemporary America. By 1953 he had moved abroad, and he lived thereafter in Paris and Spain. An African-American writer, he found both he and his work were more appreciated in Europe than in America. He is best known for his series of crime novels featuring the detective, ‘Grave Digger’ Johnson (1957–80).

Chester Bomar Himes (July 29, 1909 – November 12, 1984) was a famous African American writer.

Life

Chester Himes was born in Jefferson City, Missouri on July 29, 1909.

Himes attended East High School in Cleveland Ohio.

By the 1950s Himes had decided to settle in France permanently, in Europe, as a result of his overwhelming critical popularity there.

While in Paris Himes was the contemporary of Richard Wright and James Baldwin.

Chester Himes is regarded as the literary equal of Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler.

Himes was a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first intercollegiate Greek-letter fraternity established for African Americans.

James Sallis wrote a biography of Himes called Chester Himes: A Life (2000).

In 1969, Himes moved to Moraira, Spain, where he died in 1984 from Parkinson's Disease.

Works

Himes's novels encompassed many genres including the crime novel/mystery and political polemics, exploring racism in the United States.

Chester Himes wrote about African Americans in general, especially in two books that are concerned with labor relations and African American workplace issues.

Himes also wrote a series of detective novels featuring Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones, New York City police detectives in Harlem.

The titles of the Himes Harlem detective novels include For Love of Imabelle, The Crazy Kill, The Real Cool Killers, All Shot Up, The Big Gold Dream, The Heat's On, Cotton Comes to Harlem and Blind Man With A Pistol.

Bibliography

If He Hollers Let Him Go, 1945 The Lonely Crusade, 1947 Cast the First Stone, 1953 The Third Generation, 1954 The End of a Primitive, 1955 A Rage in Harlem, 1957 The Real Cool Killers, 1959 The Crazy Kill, 1959 The Big Gold Dream, 1960 All Shot up, 1960 Run Man Run, 1960 Pinktoes, 1961 The Heat's on, 1966 Cotton Comes to Harlem, 1965 Blind Man with a Pistol, 1969 The Quality of Hurt, 1972 Black on Black, 1973 My Life of Absurdity, 1976 A Case of Rape, 1980 The Collected Stories of Chester Himes, 1990 Plan B, 1993 Yesterday Will Make You Cry, 1998