Leon Forrest facts for kids
Leon Richard Forrest (born January 8, 1937 – died November 6, 1997) was an important African-American writer. He taught at Northwestern University from 1973 until he passed away. His four main books used old stories, history, and humor to explore a made-up place called "Forrest County." This place was a lot like the south side of Chicago, where Leon Forrest grew up. After he died, a newspaper called the Washington Post said he was "one of the best-kept secrets of contemporary African-American fiction." This means he was a very talented writer who many people didn't know about yet.
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Leon Forrest's Life Story
Forrest was born in Chicago into a middle-class family. His mother was Catholic and from New Orleans, while his father's family was Baptist. Leon was raised in the Catholic faith. His great-grandmother on his father's side helped take care of him when he was young.
Leon went to Wendell Phillips grade school and Hyde Park High School. He won an award that allowed him to attend a high school where students of different races studied together. He wasn't a top student in most subjects, but he was very good at writing. His parents divorced in 1956. His mother later remarried, and she and her new husband opened a liquor store.
After high school, Forrest attended Wilson Junior College for a year. He then took classes at Roosevelt University and the University of Chicago. He left college to serve in the military as a Public Information Officer. This job involved sharing news and information with the public.
After leaving the military, he went back to the University of Chicago. He also worked for a group called the Catholic Interracial Council's Speakers Bureau. In 1969, he started working for Muhammad Speaks, which was a newspaper for the Nation of Islam. Leon Forrest became the last editor of that newspaper who was not a Muslim.
His Writing Career
Leon Forrest's first book, There is a Tree More Ancient than Eden, came out in 1973. A famous writer named Ralph Ellison wrote the introduction for it. Another very famous writer, Nobel Prize winner Toni Morrison, helped edit this book and his next two novels. These books were The Bloodworth Orphans and Two Wings to Veil My Face. These three books together were known as the "Forest County Trilogy."
Forrest said that many things inspired his writing. These included the jazz musician Charlie Parker, the poet Dylan Thomas, and the authors William Faulkner, Eugene O'Neill, and Ralph Ellison. He also found inspiration in his parents' different religions.
In 1973, he joined the creative writing and literature team at Northwestern University. From 1985 to 1994, he was in charge of their African-American Studies department. His last book, Divine Days, was very long, over 1,100 pages! It was inspired by a famous book called Ulysses by James Joyce. A well-known professor, Henry Louis Gates, called Divine Days "the War and Peace of African-American literature." War and Peace is another very long and famous book.
Later Life and Legacy
Leon Forrest passed away from cancer in Evanston, Illinois, when he was 60 years old. Another one of his books, Meteor in the Madhouse, was published after he died in 2001. His wife, Marianne Forrest, helped make sure his writings were published. The Washington Post newspaper said that Meteor in the Madhouse would be seen as a very important book.
In 2013, Leon Forrest was honored by being added to the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. This shows how important his writing was to the city of Chicago and to literature.
Major Books by Leon Forrest
- There is a Tree More Ancient than Eden (1973)
- The Bloodworth Orphans (1977)
- Two Wings to Veil My Face (1984)
- Divine Days (1992)
- Relocations of the Spirit: Collected Essays (1994)
- Meteor in the Madhouse (2001)
