Fran Ross (June 25, 1935 – September 17, 1985) was an

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

author An author is the writer of a book, article, play, mostly written work. A broader definition of the word "author" states: "''An author is "the person who originated or gave existence to anything" and whose authorship determines responsibility f ...

best known for her 1974 novel ''

Oreo Oreo () (stylized as OREO) is a brand of sandwich cookie consisting of two biscuits or cookie pieces with a sweet creme filling. It was introduced by Nabisco on March 6, 1912, and through a series of corporate acquisitions, mergers and split ...

''. She briefly wrote comedy for Richard Pryor.

Early childhood

Born on June 25, 1935, in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, she was the eldest daughter of Gerald Ross, a welder, and Bernetta Bass Ross, a store clerk. Recognized for her scholastic, artistic and athletic talents, she earned a scholarship to

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public state-related research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist minister Russell Conwell and his congregation Grace Baptist Church of Philadelphia then called Ba ...

after graduating from Overbrook High School at the age of 15.

Career

Ross graduated from

in 1956 with a B. S. degree in Communications, Journalism and Theatre. She worked for a short time at the ''

Saturday Evening Post ''The Saturday Evening Post'' is an American magazine, currently published six times a year. It was issued weekly under this title from 1897 until 1963, then every two weeks until 1969. From the 1920s to the 1960s, it was one of the most widely c ...

''. Ross moved to New York in 1960, where she applied to work for

McGraw-Hill McGraw Hill is an American educational publishing company and one of the "big three" educational publishers that publishes educational content, software, and services for pre-K through postgraduate education. The company also publishes referenc ...

and later

Simon & Schuster Simon & Schuster () is an American publishing company and a subsidiary of Paramount Global. It was founded in New York City on January 2, 1924 by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. As of 2016, Simon & Schuster was the third largest publ ...

as a proofreader, working on Ed Koch's first book, among others. Ross began her novel ''Oreo'' hoping for a career in writing, and it was published in 1974 at the height of the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Ross's title comes from a white and black cookie, used as an ethnic slur in slang, mastery of whose American varieties is a feature of the novel, and employs the myth of

Theseus Theseus (, ; grc-gre, Θησεύς ) was the mythical king and founder-hero of Athens. The myths surrounding Theseus his journeys, exploits, and friends have provided material for fiction throughout the ages. Theseus is sometimes describe ...

to narrate the story of a black-Jewish girl searching for, and eventually exacting vengeance on, her father. Ross also wrote articles for magazines such as '' Essence'', ''Titters'' and ''

Playboy ''Playboy'' is an American men's lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. K ...

'', and then got work on ''

The Richard Pryor Show ''The Richard Pryor Show'' is an American comedy variety show starring and created by Richard Pryor. It premiered on NBC on Tuesday, September 13, 1977, at 8 p.m. opposite ABC's '' Laverne & Shirley'' and ''Happy Days''. The show was produced ...

''. She was unable to complete a second novel, due to difficulties supporting herself on this work. She worked in media and publishing until she died of cancer on September 17, 1985, in New York City. ''Oreo'' was rediscovered and republished in 2000 by Northeastern University Press, with a new introduction by Harryette Mullen.22 March 2006
"Traveling identities: mixed race quests and Fran Ross's Oreo."
'' African American Review'' Mat Johnson has hailed Ross's work as a masterpiece that was ahead of its time.Johnson, Mat (9 March 2011)
'Oreo': A Satire Of Racial Identity, Inside And Out
''You Must Read This'', NPR. Retrieved March 10, 2011/ ''Oreo'' was republished again in 2015 by New Directions and in England in 2018 by

Picador A ''picador'' (; pl. ''picadores'') is one of the pair of horse-mounted bullfighters in a Spanish-style bullfight that jab the bull with a lance. They perform in the ''tercio de varas'', which is the first of the three stages in a stylized bullf ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ross, Fran 1935 births 1985 deaths 20th-century African-American women writers 20th-century African-American writers 20th-century American novelists 20th-century American women writers African-American novelists American comedy writers American women novelists Novelists from Pennsylvania Postmodern writers Writers from Philadelphia