Harry Crews facts for kids

Harry Eugene Crews (born June 7, 1935 – died March 28, 2012) was an American writer. He wrote novels, short stories, and essays. His stories often featured unique and strong characters. These characters usually lived in the Deep South region of the United States.

Harry Crews's Early Life

Harry Crews was born on June 7, 1935, in Alma, Georgia. This was during the Great Depression, a time when many people were poor. His parents were tenant farmers, meaning they farmed land owned by someone else. Harry's father passed away when he was a baby. His mother later married his father's brother. Harry didn't know this man wasn't his biological father until he was older.

As a child, Harry had two very serious accidents. When he was five, he got polio. This disease made his legs bend, and doctors thought he might never walk again. After about a year of crawling, his legs slowly straightened, and he learned to walk once more.

Soon after, he fell into a large pot of very hot water. This water was used to prepare hogs. Luckily, his head stayed out of the water, which saved his life. However, he suffered severe burns on most of his body. He had to stay in bed while he healed. Harry later wrote about how many people he knew had scars or missing body parts from accidents. These experiences later inspired the strong and unusual characters he wrote about.

Moving to Florida and Joining the Marines

When Harry was still a child, his mother left his stepfather. Harry and his brother moved with her to Springfield, a part of Jacksonville, Florida. Harry finished high school there. He wasn't a top student.

After graduating, he joined the Marines during the Korean War. After his time in the military, he went to the University of Florida. He used the G.I. Bill, which helps veterans pay for college. There, he studied with a famous teacher named Andrew Nelson Lytle. Lytle also taught other well-known writers like Flannery O'Connor. Harry and Lytle stayed in touch for many years. Lytle even gave Harry advice on his early stories.

Harry married Sally Ellis, and they had a son named Patrick Scott. Sally wanted a divorce because Harry was so focused on his writing. He later wrote that he was "obsessed" with becoming a writer. He felt he had started late and might have been impatient with Sally. However, he convinced Sally to remarry, and they had a second son, Byron Jason.

Harry graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in English. He later earned a graduate degree in education. He then started teaching English, which he did for the rest of his life, along with his writing career. In 1963, his first story, "The Unattached Smile," was published. Another short story, "A Long Wail," came out in 1964.

In 1964, his first son, Patrick, sadly drowned in a neighbor's swimming pool. After this tragedy, Harry continued writing his first novel, The Gospel Singer, which was published in 1968. In 1972, Sally asked for a second and final divorce. Harry did not marry again. His son, Byron Jason Crews, now manages Harry Crews's literary works.

Harry Crews's Writing Style

After his first two novels, Harry Crews wrote a lot. He wrote many novels, movie scripts, and essays for magazines like Esquire. He often set strict deadlines for himself. This meant he finished his writings very quickly. After The Gospel Singer, he wrote eight more novels, publishing almost one every year. Some of Harry Crews's books are now hard to find.

His stories were known for featuring unique and strong characters, often from rural areas. For example, in his novel Car, a man tries to eat an entire car, piece by piece. In The Knockout Artist, a poor boxer from Georgia earns money by knocking himself out at parties. A Feast of Snakes, one of his most famous novels, was even banned for a time in South Africa.

Harry Crews believed that writers should write about things they had actually experienced. In his own life, he often became very interested in different hobbies. He and Sally learned karate together. This inspired his novel Karate Is a Thing of the Spirit. He also became fascinated with hawks. He even trapped and trained them. This interest led to his novel The Hawk is Dying, about an amateur hawk trainer. His novel Body is about a competitive female body builder. Harry himself trained his girlfriend, Maggie Powell, who became a bodybuilding champion.

In the 1970s, Harry wrote a column called "Grits" for Esquire magazine. It covered topics about tough experiences outside of city life. The term "grits" became a way he described the strong Southern characters in his books.

Harry Crews continued writing and publishing throughout his life. As he became more famous, he gained fans like Madonna and Sean Penn. They even talked about making movies based on his novels, but it never happened. His last novel, An American Family, had a quote on its cover from musician Thurston Moore, who called Harry Crews "America's best writer."

The University of Georgia received Harry Crews's writings and notes in 2006. This collection includes his stories, letters, and notes he made for his assignments.

Harry Crews passed away on March 28, 2012. His son, Byron J. Crews, is now a retired professor of English at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

What is Grit Lit?

Harry Crews's writing style is closely linked to a type of literature called Grit Lit. He is seen as a major influence in this genre, along with writers like Flannery O’Connor and Cormac McCarthy. Later writers like Larry Brown also followed this style.

Grit Lit stories are usually set in rural areas, often in what is called the "Rough South." Larry Brown, a famous Grit Lit writer, dedicated his novel Fay to Harry Crews. He called Crews "my uncle in all ways but blood." They remained friends until Brown's death.

Grit Lit: A Rough South Reader describes the genre. It says Grit Lit stories are often about working-class people in small towns or rural areas. The stories can sometimes be intense, but not always. The characters in these stories often face very difficult situations. They use their toughness and resilience to survive.

Harry Crews's own experiences growing up poor in Bacon County, Georgia, greatly influenced his stories. Many other Grit Lit writers also come from working-class backgrounds. They use their own experiences to make their stories feel real and accurate.

See also

• Southern Gothic
• Southern Renaissance