Charles's obit did not describe him as the man who wrote
"Grimhaven." I know better than to try to stop a thread, but
here's my two cents: Charles didn't want to write a series,
use stock characters and format plots. You could look it up
in his essay in Dennis McMillan's compilation, "Writing and
Other Blood Sports." So he wrote "Grimhaven" to get out of
his St. Martin's obligation. Then he went on to write three
more Hoke novels, each different enough to challenge him as
he wrote. Different people, different settings. I'm not
averse to making a dollar (I'm an American). But I'm not Miss
Mary, hearing that gunblast in Ketchum as the clang of a cash
register, either. If I thought Charles wanted "Grimhaven"
published, I would look for a publisher. But he didn't. I
won't. My sons and 14-year-old nephew have had chips
surgically implanted in their cerebral cortexes, so don't
look for it to be published in the foreseeable future. You
have first amendment rights, too. If you want to write the
Vatican to start the beatification process for the people who
were selling Xerox copies like watermelons off a pickup
truck, that's up to you. If you want to know what he thought
about Chester Himes, look for the article
"Chester Himes and His Novels of Absurdity" in American
Visions: The Magazine of Afro- American Culture, Washington,
D.C.: Vol. 3, No. 4, Aug 1988. Magazine no longer published,
but was sponsored by the Smithsonian. There's another article
about Himes in "Writing and Other Blood Sports." Hope this
clarifies a couple things. Happy new year. Betsy
Willeford
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