Mr. Sallis,
I would also like to thank you for being here this month, and
providing us with so much feedback about your novels, as well
as about other authors you admire.
I have a question, before you leave, about eh Grave
Digger/Coffin Ed series.
I've heard that the creation of the characters was an
after-thought, that Himes had not intended to include police
characters in his first Harlem crime novel, but the SERIE
NOIR editor (was it still Duhamel, at that point?) told him
that you can't have a policier without police. It's for this
reason that the characters don't show up until comparatively
late in the proceedings in A RAGE IN HARLEM.
However, I've also heard that the characters were based on a
pair of real-life cops Himes had become acquainted with
during his travels. Of course, these are not mutually
exclusive conditions. Duhamel could have suggested including
police detectives and Himes could have decided to base them
on the real-life figures with whom he was familiar.
Finally, I've heard it suggested that Himes's Harlem is based
less on the NYC's real-life Harlem than on Clevelands's
"Roaring Third" neighborhood, where Himes actually lived for
a longer time than he did in Harlem. Any comments on this
suggestion.
Thanks again.
JIM DOHERTY
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