Nathan Heard (November 7, 1936 – March 16, 2004), sometimes known as Nathan C. Heard, was a best-selling author in the United States, noted for the grim realism of his novels. He is also known as one of the forefathers of street and prison literatures, having written his most famous book, ''
Howard Street Howard Street may refer to:
* Howard Street (Baltimore), a major street in Downtown Baltimore, Maryland
**Howard Street Tunnel fire, a disaster that struck the freight railroad tunnel under Baltimore's Howard Street in 2001
*Howard Street (Sheffiel ...
'' (1968), while serving time in the Trenton State Penitentiary for armed robbery.
Heard is the son of Blues singer Gladys Heard Johnson (nee' Pruitt) and laborer Nathan E. Heard. He grew up in
Newark, New Jersey
Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.Ken Gibson. He also worked as a contributing writer for
Essence Magazine
''Essence'' is a monthly lifestyle magazine covering fashion, beauty, entertainment, and culture. First published in 1970, the magazine is written for African-American women.
History
Edward Lewis, Clarence O. Smith, Cecil Hollingsworth and Jon ...
and the
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
.
He spent some time teaching creative writing at Fresno State College (now known as
California State University, Fresno
California State University, Fresno (Fresno State) is a public university in Fresno, California. It is one of 23 campuses in the California State University system. The university had a fall 2020 enrollment of 25,341 students. It offers bache ...
), where he won a teaching award in 1970. He also taught creative writing at
Rutgers University
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...
.
His other books include ''A Cold Fire Burning'', ''House of Slammers,'' ''To Reach a Dream'' and ''When Shadows Fall''.
His
movie
A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...
credits include ''
Gordon's War
''Gordon's War'' is a 1973 action film written by Howard Friedlander and Ed Spielman, and directed by Ossie Davis. It stars Paul Winfield as Gordon Hudson.
Plot
A Vietnam veteran returns home to find drug dealers and addicts now rule his old neig ...
'' (1973).
He was the featured narrator of the ''Ballad of Little Jimmy Scott'' (PBS).
He died of complications 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 becom ...