Miker,
I didn't choose an African American protagonist: he chose me.
I was writing the story that later became the first section
of The Long-Legged Fly, thirty or so pages in, wondering
about the source of this guy's anger and rage, when it
suddenly came to me: Of course! He's black!
It's amazing how obtuse we can be sometimes.
So I went back and rewrote, and the whole thing began
unfolding for me.
You're quite correct, though, that Himes was a strong
influence -- his life, actually, more than the mysteries. I'd
been reading a lot of his work and had written a longish
essay for one of the literary magazines I regularly published
in, so I wound up dancing with the one that brought me.
Jim
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