James Baldwin

James Baldwin had a gift of eloquence, a gift that manifested as a preacher in Harlem at age 14 and as a writer for most of his life.

Born in 1924, Baldwin's mother was a domestic worker and his father unknown. When he was three, she married a storefront preacher and factory worker-a man who was cruel and demanding.

Baldwin had an early love for writing, publishing his first story in a church newspaper when he was only 12. After high school, he worked a number of odd jobs while continuing to read voraciously. In 1943, he began to write full-time, publishing book reviews and essays when he was unable to get his longer work published. With the help of author Richard Wright, he won a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1948. This was the same year he moved to Paris to escape the racism in America.

During the ten years that Baldwin lived in Paris and Istanbul, he finished his seminal work, Go Tell It On the Mountain.

Baldwin's work covered such ground as the civil rights movement, sexual identity, and personal identity. In addition to his novels, Baldwin wrote plays, a children's storybook, and short stories.

Baldwin died of stomach cancer in 1987.

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