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Chester Bomar Himes (July 29, 1909 – November 12, 1984) was an American writer. His works, some of which have been filmed, include '' If He Hollers Let Him Go'', published in 1945, and the Harlem Detective series of novels for which he is best known, set in the 1950s and early 1960s and featuring two black policemen called Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson. In 1958 Himes won France's Grand Prix de Littérature Policière.


Life


Early life

Chester Himes was born in Jefferson City,
Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...
, on July 29, 1909, to Joseph Sandy Himes and Estelle Bomar Himes; his father was a professor of industrial trades at a black college, and his mother, prior to getting married, was a teacher at Scotia Seminary. Chester Himes grew up in a middle-class home in Missouri. When he was about 12 years old, his father took a teaching job in the Arkansas Delta at Branch Normal College (now University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff), and soon a tragedy took place that would profoundly shape Himes's view of race relations. He had misbehaved and his mother made him sit out a gunpowder demonstration that he and his brother, Joseph Jr., were supposed to conduct during a school assembly. Working alone, Joseph mixed the chemicals; they exploded in his face. Rushed to the nearest hospital, the blinded boy was refused treatment because of
Jim Crow laws The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws enforcing racial segregation in the Southern United States. Other areas of the United States were affected by formal and informal policies of segregation as well, but many states outside the S ...
. "That one moment in my life hurt me as much as all the others put together," Himes wrote in ''The Quality of Hurt''. The family later settled in
Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S ...
. His parents' marriage was unhappy and eventually ended in divorce.


Prison and literary beginnings

In 1925, Himes's family left Pine Bluff and relocated to Cleveland, Ohio, where he attended East High School. He attended
Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best pub ...
in
Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, an ...
, where he became a member of
Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate historically African American fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the 1905–1906 school year at Cornell University but later evolved in ...
fraternity, but was expelled for playing a prank. In late 1928 he was arrested and sentenced to jail and hard labor for 20 to 25 years for armed robbery and sent to Ohio Penitentiary. In prison, he wrote short stories and had them published in national magazines. He stated that writing in prison and being published was a way to earn respect from guards and fellow inmates, as well as to avoid violence. His first stories appeared in 1931 in '' The Bronzeman'' and, starting in 1934, in ''
Esquire Esquire (, ; abbreviated Esq.) is usually a courtesy title. In the United Kingdom, ''esquire'' historically was a title of respect accorded to men of higher social rank, particularly members of the landed gentry above the rank of gentlema ...
'' magazine. His story "To What Red Hell" (published in ''Esquire'' in 1934) as well as to his novel ''Cast the First Stone'' – only much later republished unabridged as '' Yesterday Will Make You Cry'' (1998) – dealt with the catastrophic prison fire Himes witnessed at Ohio Penitentiary in 1930. In 1934 Himes was transferred to London Prison Farm and in April 1936 was released on parole into his mother's custody. Following his release he worked at part-time jobs while continuing to write. During this period he came into contact with
Langston Hughes James Mercer Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967) was an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist from Joplin, Missouri. One of the earliest innovators of the literary art form called jazz poetry, H ...
, who facilitated Himes's entree into the world of literature and publishing. In 1937 Himes married Jean Johnson.


First books

In the 1940s Himes spent time in
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, working as a screenwriter but also producing two novels, '' If He Hollers Let Him Go'' (1945) and '' The Lonely Crusade'' (1947), which charted the experiences of the great migration, drawn by the city's defense industries, and their dealings with the established black community, fellow workers, unions and management. He also provided an analysis of the Zoot Suit Riots for ''
The Crisis ''The Crisis'' is the official magazine of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). It was founded in 1910 by W. E. B. Du Bois (editor), Oswald Garrison Villard, J. Max Barber, Charles Edward Russell, Kelly Mi ...
'', the magazine of the
NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&n ...
. Mike Davis in '' City of Quartz: Excavating the Future of Los Angeles'', describing the prevalence of racism in Hollywood in the 1940s and '50s, cites Himes' brief career as a screenwriter for
Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. D ...
, terminated when
Jack L. Warner Jack Leonard Warner (born Jacob Warner; August 2, 1892 – September 9, 1978) was a Canadian-American film executive, who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Burbank, California. Warner's career spanned some ...
heard about him and said: "I don't want no niggers on this lot." Himes later wrote in his autobiography: Back on the East Coast Himes received a scholarship at the
Yaddo Yaddo is an artists' community located on a estate in Saratoga Springs, New York. Its mission is "to nurture the creative process by providing an opportunity for artists to work without interruption in a supportive environment.". On March&nbs ...
artists' community, where he stayed and worked in May and June 1948, in a room just across from where
Patricia Highsmith Patricia Highsmith (January 19, 1921 – February 4, 1995) was an American novelist and short story writer widely known for her psychological thrillers, including her series of five novels featuring the character Tom Ripley. She wrote 22 nove ...
resided.


Emigration to France

Himes separated from his wife Jean in 1952, and the following year he began a period of travels by boarding a ship to France. By the 1950s he had decided to settle permanently in France, a country he liked in part due to his popularity in literary circles. In
Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
, Himes was the contemporary of the political cartoonist Oliver Harrington and fellow
expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...
writers
Richard Wright Richard Wright may refer to: Arts * Richard Wright (author) (1908–1960), African-American novelist * Richard B. Wright (1937–2017), Canadian novelist * Richard Wright (painter) (1735–1775), marine painter * Richard Wright (artist) (born 19 ...
,
James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; ...
, and
William Gardner Smith William Gardner Smith (February 6, 1927 – November 5, 1974) was an American journalist, novelist, and editor. Smith is linked to the black social protest novel tradition of the 1940s and the 1950s, a movement that became synonymous with writ ...
. It was in Paris in the late 1950s that Chester met his second wife, Lesley Himes (née Packard), when she went to interview him. She was a journalist at the ''
Herald Tribune ''Herald'' or ''The Herald'' is the name of various newspapers. ''Herald'' or ''The Herald'' Australia * ''The Herald'' (Adelaide) and several similar names (1894–1924), a South Australian Labor weekly, then daily * '' Barossa and Light Heral ...
'', where she wrote a fashion column, "Monica". He described her as "Irish-English with blue-gray eyes and very good looking"; he also saw her courage and resilience, Chester said to Lesley: "You're the only true color-blind person I've ever met in my life." After he suffered a stroke, in 1959, Lesley quit her job and nursed him back to health. She cared for him for the rest of his life, and worked with him as his informal editor, proofreader, confidante and, as the director Melvin Van Peebles dubbed her, "his watchdog". After a long engagement, they were married in 1978, as Chester Himes was still legally married to his first wife, Jean, and only able to gain a divorce that year. Lesley and Chester faced adversities as a mixed-race couple but they prevailed. Their circle of political colleagues and creative friends included not only such towering figures as Langston Hughes and Richard Wright; it also included figures such as Malcolm X, Carl Van Vechten,
Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
,
Jean Miotte Jean Miotte (1926-March 1, 2016) was a French abstract painter, in the style known as L'Art Informel. His work was preserved and studied by the Miotte Foundation and is in the collections of museums including: MoMA and the Guggenheim in New Yor ...
, Ollie Harrington, Nikki Giovanni and Ishmael Reed. Bohemian life in Paris would in turn lead them to the South of France and finally on to Spain, where they lived until Chester's death in 1984.


Later life and death

In 1969, Himes moved to Moraira, Spain, where he died in 1984 from
Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms beco ...
, at the age of 75. He is buried at Benissa cemetery.


Critical reception and biography

Some regard Chester Himes as the literary equal of
Dashiell Hammett Samuel Dashiell Hammett (; May 27, 1894 – January 10, 1961) was an American writer of hard-boiled detective novels and short stories. He was also a screenwriter and political activist. Among the enduring characters he created are Sam Spade ('' ...
and
Raymond Chandler Raymond Thornton Chandler (July 23, 1888 – March 26, 1959) was an American-British novelist and screenwriter. In 1932, at the age of forty-four, Chandler became a detective fiction writer after losing his job as an oil company executive durin ...
. Ishmael Reed says: " imestaught me the difference between a black detective and
Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...
" and it would be more than 30 years until another black mystery writer, Walter Mosley and his
Easy Rawlins Easy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Easy'' (film), a 2003 American romantic comedy film *'' Easy!'', or ''Scialla!'', a 2011 Italian comedy film * ''Easy'' (TV series), a 2016–2019 American comedy-drama anthology ...
and Mouse series, had even a similar effect. In 1996, his widow Lesley Himes went to New York to work with Ed Margolies on the first biographical treatment of Himes's life, entitled ''The Several Lives of Chester Himes'', by long-time Himes scholars
Edward Margolies Edward Margolies (December 19, 1925 – January 9, 2017) was an American literary critic and biographer. Early years Margolies was raised in Boston, Massachusetts. His parents were Eastern European Jewish immigrants. He was the youngest of four ...
and Michel Fabre, published in 1997 by University Press of Mississippi. Later, novelist and Himes scholar
James Sallis James Sallis (born December 21, 1944) is an American crime writer who wrote a series of novels featuring the detective character Lew Griffin set in New Orleans, and the 2005 novel ''Drive'', which was adapted into a 2011 film of the same name ...
published a more deeply detailed biography of Himes called ''Chester Himes: A Life'' (2000). A detailed examination of Himes's writing and writings about him can be found in ''Chester Himes: An Annotated Primary and Secondary Bibliography'' compiled by Michel Fabre, Robert E. Skinner, and Lester Sullivan (
Greenwood Press Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. (GPG), also known as ABC-Clio/Greenwood (stylized ABC-CLIO/Greenwood), is an educational and academic publisher (middle school through university level) which is today part of ABC-Clio. Established in 1967 as Gr ...
, 1992). In 2017, Lawrence P. Jackson published a significant, 600+ page biography of Himes titled ''Chester B. Himes: A Biography.''


Works

Himes's novels encompassed many
genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...
s 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. '' If He Hollers Let Him Go''—which contains many autobiographical elements—is about a black shipyard worker in Los Angeles during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
struggling against racism, as well as his own violent reactions to racism. '' Lonely Crusade'' is a longer work that examines some of the same issues. ''Cast the First Stone'' (1952) is based on Himes's experiences in prison. It was Himes's first novel but was not published until about ten years after it was written. One reason may have been Himes' unusually candid treatment – for that time – of a homosexual relationship. Originally written in the third person, it was rewritten in the first person in a more "hard-boiled" style. ''Yesterday Will Make You Cry'' (1993), published after Himes's death, restored the original manuscript. The restored 1998 edition includes a 1997 introduction by filmmaker and writer Melvin Van Peebles. Himes also wrote a series of Harlem Detective novels featuring Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones, New York City police detectives in
Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...
. The novels feature a mordant emotional timbre and a fatalistic approach to street situations. Funeral homes are often part of the story, and funeral director H. Exodus Clay is a recurring character in these books. The titles of the series include ''
A Rage in Harlem ''A Rage in Harlem'' is a 1991 American crime film directed by Bill Duke and loosely based on Chester Himes' novel ''A Rage in Harlem''. The film stars Forest Whitaker, Danny Glover, Badja Djola, Robin Givens and Gregory Hines. Producer Stephen W ...
'', '' The Real Cool Killers'', '' The Crazy Kill'', '' All Shot Up'', '' The Big Gold Dream'', ''The Heat's On'', ''
Cotton Comes to Harlem ''Cotton Comes to Harlem'' is a 1970 American neo-noir action comedy thriller film co-written and directed by Ossie Davis and starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, and Redd Foxx. The film, later cited as an early example of the bla ...
'', and '' Blind Man with a Pistol''; all written between 1957 and 1969. The final entry in the series was to be ''Plan B'', published posthumously in 1983. ''
Cotton Comes to Harlem ''Cotton Comes to Harlem'' is a 1970 American neo-noir action comedy thriller film co-written and directed by Ossie Davis and starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, and Redd Foxx. The film, later cited as an early example of the bla ...
'' was made into a movie in 1970, which was set in that time period, rather than the earlier period of the original book. A sequel, ''
Come Back, Charleston Blue ''Come Back, Charleston Blue'' is a 1972 American comedy film starring Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques, loosely based on Chester Himes' novel ''The Heat's On''. It is a sequel to the 1970 film ''Cotton Comes to Harlem''. Plot Detectiv ...
'', based upon ''The Heat's On'', was released in 1972. ''For Love of Imabelle'' was made into a film under the title ''
A Rage in Harlem ''A Rage in Harlem'' is a 1991 American crime film directed by Bill Duke and loosely based on Chester Himes' novel ''A Rage in Harlem''. The film stars Forest Whitaker, Danny Glover, Badja Djola, Robin Givens and Gregory Hines. Producer Stephen W ...
'' in 1991. In the 1980s, British publisher Allison and Busby reprinted several of the Harlem detective novels in editions that featured paintings by Edward Burra on the covers. In May 2011, and again in 2020
Penguin Modern Classics Penguin Classics is an imprint of Penguin Books under which classic works of literature are published in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Korean among other languages. Literary critics see books in this series as important members of the Wester ...
in London republished five of Himes' detective novels from the Harlem Cycle. The literary estate is overseen by Chester and Lesley's "niece" Sarah Pirozek (daughter of Lesley's best and oldest friend).


Novels and stories

* * * * * * See ''The End of a Primitive'', 1990. * Alternate titles: ''A Rage in Harlem'' (1985 Vintage Books, New York), ''The Five-cornered square''. * * * * * * * * * * * * From CIP data: Restores the work in the form the author intended, and includes his introduction, not previously published. * With an introduction by
Calvin Hernton Calvin Coolidge Hernton (April 28, 1932 — September 30, 2001) was an American sociologist, poet and author, particularly renowned for his 1965 study ''Sex and Racism in America'', which has been described as "a frank look at the role sexual te ...
. * Complete and unexpurgated text of Himes' first autobiographical novel, originally published as ''Cast the First Stone'' (1953).


Autobiography

* * A useful companion to the two volumes of autobiography is ''Conversations with Chester Himes'', edited by Michel Fabre and Robert E. Skinner, published by University Press of Mississippi in 1995.


Films based on novels

Four of Chester Himes' novels were made into feature films: ''If He Hollers, Let Him Go!'' (1968) ncredited directed by Charles Martin; ''
Cotton Comes to Harlem ''Cotton Comes to Harlem'' is a 1970 American neo-noir action comedy thriller film co-written and directed by Ossie Davis and starring Godfrey Cambridge, Raymond St. Jacques, and Redd Foxx. The film, later cited as an early example of the bla ...
'', directed by Ossie Davis in 1970; ''
Come Back, Charleston Blue ''Come Back, Charleston Blue'' is a 1972 American comedy film starring Godfrey Cambridge and Raymond St. Jacques, loosely based on Chester Himes' novel ''The Heat's On''. It is a sequel to the 1970 film ''Cotton Comes to Harlem''. Plot Detectiv ...
'' (''The Heat's On'') (1972), directed by Mark Warren, and ''
A Rage in Harlem ''A Rage in Harlem'' is a 1991 American crime film directed by Bill Duke and loosely based on Chester Himes' novel ''A Rage in Harlem''. The film stars Forest Whitaker, Danny Glover, Badja Djola, Robin Givens and Gregory Hines. Producer Stephen W ...
'' (starring Gregory Hines and
Danny Glover Danny Lebern Glover (; born July 22, 1946) is an American actor, film director, and political activist. He is widely known for his lead role as Roger Murtaugh in the '' Lethal Weapon'' film series. He also had leading roles in his films inclu ...
), directed by Bill Duke in 1991. Two Himes short stories "The Assassin of Saint Nicholas Avenue" and "Tang" have also been filmed as short subjects, the latter included as a segment in the 1994
anthology In book publishing, an anthology is a collection of literary works chosen by the compiler; it may be a collection of plays, poems, short stories, songs or excerpts by different authors. In genre fiction, the term ''anthology'' typically cate ...
television film '' Cosmic Slop''."'Cosmic Slop' - HBO's Bizarre, Thought-Provoking Film That Seems to Have Been Forgotten"
''Shadow and Act'', April 20, 2017.


See also

* African-American literature


References


Further reading

* * Review of ''Yesterday Will Make You Cry'', by Chester Himes. * * * * * * Margolies, Edward, and Michel Fabre. ''The Several Lives of Chester Himes''. Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 1997. * * * *


External links


Essay on Chester Himes in France

Audiobook (mp3)
: Face in the moon, short story translated in French * *Tadzio Koelb
"Some Thoughts on Chester Himes on the 100th Anniversary of His Birth"
''The Third Estate'', July 27, 2009.
"Theme Issue: Chester Himes and His Legacy"
''Clues: A Journal of Detection'', Vol. 28, No. 1, Spring 2010. McFarland Publishers, ISSN 0742-4248 (Print), 1940-3046 (Online)
FBI file on Chester Himes
* Chester Himes Papers. Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library. *Christopher Harter
"Lesley Himes papers, 1934–2008"
Amistad Research Center. *Sarah Pirozek
"Lesley Himes Obituary"
July 7, 2010. *
William Horberg William Horberg is an American film producer and chair emeritus of the Producers Guild of America on the East coast. He is executive producer of '' The Queen's Gambit'', a television miniseries released on Netflix for streaming on October 23, 20 ...

"The Last Chester Himes Movie?"
November 6, 2008. {{DEFAULTSORT:Himes, Chester 1909 births 1984 deaths 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century short story writers African-American male writers African-American novelists American convicts who became writers American crime fiction writers American expatriates in France American expatriates in Spain American male novelists American male short story writers American people convicted of robbery American short story writers Burials in Spain Deaths from Parkinson's disease Neurological disease deaths in Spain Novelists from Missouri Ohio State University alumni People from Jefferson City, Missouri People of the New Deal arts projects