Chester Himes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Chester Himes
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Himes in 1946, photo by Carl Van Vechten
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| Born | Chester Bomar Himes July 29, 1909 Jefferson City, Missouri, US |
| Died | November 12, 1984 (aged 75) Moraira, Spain |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Period | 1934–1980 |
| Genre | Hardboiled crime fiction, detective fiction |
| Notable works | Harlem Detective series of novels |
| Notable awards | Grand Prix de Littérature Policière |
| Spouse | Jean Lucinda Johnson (m. 1937–div. 1978) Lesley Packard (m. 1978) |
Chester Bomar Himes (born July 29, 1909 – died November 12, 1984) was an American writer. He is famous for his exciting detective novels. Many of his books have even been made into movies!
His most well-known stories are the Harlem Detective series. These books are set in the 1950s and 1960s. They feature two cool Black police detectives named Grave Digger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson. In 1958, Chester Himes won a big award in France called the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière.
Contents
About Chester Himes
His Early Life
Chester Himes was born in Jefferson City, Missouri, on July 29, 1909. His father was a college professor, and his mother was a teacher. Chester grew up in a middle-class family.
When he was about 12, something sad happened that really affected him. His brother, Joseph Jr., was doing a science experiment with gunpowder. It exploded and hurt his eyes. Joseph was rushed to a hospital, but they wouldn't treat him because of unfair Jim Crow laws. These laws kept Black people and white people separate and unequal.
Chester wrote about this moment later, saying it hurt him deeply. He remembered his father crying and his mother looking for a handkerchief, wishing it was a pistol. This event showed Chester how unfair life could be for Black people in America.
His family later moved to Cleveland, Ohio. His parents had a difficult marriage and eventually divorced.
Starting to Write in Prison
In 1925, Chester's family moved to Cleveland, Ohio. He went to East High School and later attended Ohio State University. He was expelled from college after a prank.
In 1928, Chester got into trouble and was sent to Ohio Penitentiary for a long time. While in prison, he started writing short stories. He got some of them published in national magazines. Chester said that writing and getting published helped him earn respect from guards and other prisoners. It also helped him avoid violence.
His first stories appeared in 1931. Later, in 1934, his stories were published in Esquire magazine. One of his stories, "To What Red Hell," was about a terrible prison fire he saw in 1930.
In 1936, Chester was released from prison. He worked part-time jobs and kept writing. During this time, he met the famous writer Langston Hughes. Langston Hughes helped Chester get started in the world of books and publishing. In 1937, Chester married Jean Johnson.
His First Books
In the 1940s, Chester Himes lived in Los Angeles. He worked as a writer for movies. He also wrote two important novels: If He Hollers Let Him Go (1945) and The Lonely Crusade (1947). These books were about the experiences of Black people who moved to Los Angeles for jobs during World War II. They explored how these new workers dealt with racism and other challenges.
Chester Himes wrote about how difficult it was to face racism. He said that even though he had been through many tough times, the unfairness he faced in Los Angeles made him feel very bitter and full of hate.
Later, in 1948, he received a special scholarship to write at an artists' community called Yaddo.
Moving to France
Chester Himes separated from his first wife, Jean, in 1952. The next year, he traveled to France. He decided to live there permanently because he liked how popular his books were in France. In Paris, Chester Himes became friends with other famous Black American writers who also lived there, like Richard Wright and James Baldwin.
In Paris, Chester met his second wife, Lesley Packard. She was a journalist. Chester described Lesley as brave and kind. He said she was "color-blind," meaning she didn't see people differently because of their race.
After Chester had a stroke in 1959, Lesley quit her job to take care of him. She helped him with his writing and was his trusted helper. They got married in 1978.
Chester and Lesley were a mixed-race couple, which was sometimes challenging. But they had many famous friends, including Malcolm X, Picasso, and Nikki Giovanni. Their life in Paris eventually led them to live in the South of France and then in Spain.
Later Life and Death
In 1969, Chester Himes moved to Moraira, Spain. He lived there until he passed away in 1984 from Parkinson's disease. He was 75 years old. He is buried in a cemetery in Benissa, Spain.
Chester Himes's Books
Chester Himes wrote many different kinds of books. He wrote crime novels and stories that explored racism in the United States.
He often wrote about the lives of African Americans. Two of his books, If He Hollers Let Him Go and Lonely Crusade, focus on workplace issues and racism. If He Hollers Let Him Go is about a Black shipyard worker in Los Angeles during World War II who fights against racism.
His novel Cast the First Stone (1952) was based on his time in prison. It was actually his first novel, but it took about ten years to be published. This book was later republished in its original form as Yesterday Will Make You Cry (1998).
Chester Himes is most famous for his series of Harlem Detective novels. These books feature two New York City police detectives, Coffin Ed Johnson and Gravedigger Jones, who work in Harlem. The stories are exciting and often involve funeral homes and a character named H. Exodus Clay, who is a funeral director.
The titles of his Harlem Detective series include:
- A Rage in Harlem
- The Real Cool Killers
- The Crazy Kill
- All Shot Up
- The Big Gold Dream
- The Heat's On
- Cotton Comes to Harlem
- Blind Man with a Pistol
These books were all written between 1957 and 1969. His final book in the series, Plan B, was published after he died.
Movies Based on His Novels
Several of Chester Himes's novels have been made into movies:
- Cotton Comes to Harlem was made into a movie in 1970.
- A sequel, Come Back, Charleston Blue, was based on The Heat's On and released in 1972.
- For Love of Imabelle became the movie A Rage in Harlem in 1991.
Two of his short stories, "The Assassin of Saint Nicholas Avenue" and "Tang," were also made into short films.
Images for kids
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In Spanish: Chester Himes para niños
