I began this project in 2002 after a long conversation with my friend and teacher Horace Porter. The next year I was fortunate to spend the afternoon with Michel Fabre at his home in Mt. Royal and to be the recipient of much of his generosity in the form of copies of the materials he had collected when he coauthored a biography of Chester Himes in 1997. I have endeavored to write the “big book” that Michel and I thought Chester Himes deserved.
I would like to thank the College of Emory University and in particular Robin Foreman, the dean of the college, who has supported my career at crucial stages. My fellow biographer of black writers Keith Gilyard has lent great support and genuine brotherhood to me and been an uncle to my children. Dean Beverly Wendland and Vice Dean Chris Celenza at Johns Hopkins University have also been unusually helpful and supportive of this project. At Johns Hopkins, I also appreciate the welcome and support of colleagues Hollis Robbins, Chris Nealon, Mark Thompson, John Marshall, Cheryl Holcombe-McCoy, and Kathryn Edin.
There are always a series of mischances and odd occasions in the course of writing a biography, but I would like to thank three people who have made a powerful impression on my understanding of Chester Himes. One year before her death, an ill Lesley Himes welcomed me into her home in Spain. She was a gracious and considerate hostess, in spite of the fact that she was rushed to the hospital during my brief stay in Moraira. Melvin Van Peebles also was very generous with his time. Finally, Carlos Moore, whom I regard highly as a complex committed man of literary and intellectual affairs, made himself available on multiple occasions and contributed a valuable portrait of two world-class figures whom he knew intimately.
Dr. Preston King has graciously taken his time to help me develop my reflections on this period and shared his knowledge, wisdom, and personal recollections of several key twentieth-century transatlantic black figures. It has been my privilege to have him as a friend.
I would also like to thank James A. Miller and Jerry G. Watts, who joined the ancestors in 2015. My friends David Miller, Dr. Leroy Reese, Nathan McCall, and James Ezelio have helped me to see the brighter side of life. My mother and my sons have been unusually supportive and understanding of the odd life of the writer.
My agent, Regina Brooks; my editor, Amy Cherry; her assistant, Remy Cawley; and my expert copy editor, Trent Duffy, have contributed a great deal to this project.
Evelyn Crawford and Mary Louise Patterson are exemplary women I have been so very fortunate to know. I would also like to thank colleagues Michael D. Hill, Alan Wald, Vanessa Siddle-Walker, Isabel Wilkerson, Richard Yarborough, Jonathan Eburne, Dianne Stewart, James Sallis, Michelle Gordon, Shana Redmond, Lena Hill, Valerie Loichot, François Furstenberg, James West, William Maxwell, Dolan Hubbard, Kevin Bell, Elizabeth Alexander, Manthia Diawara, Ike Newsum, Ayesha Hardison, and Beverly Moss. Several people shared their knowledge of World War II–era California: Alden Kimbrough, Walter Gordon, and William Beverly. Molly Lewis, Rosylin Meindorfer, and Marylin Mobeley hospitably contributed to my understanding of New York, Spain, and Cleveland.
I am especially grateful for the insights and hard work of students Gloria Jirsairaie, Olivia Young, Nicole Morris, Adam Newman, Joshua Coen, Jimmy Worthy, Guy Conn, Guirdex Masse, Toni Jones, and Rebekah Ramsay.
I would like to express my gratitude for the help of multiple librarians and the libraries who serve the public: Amistad Library, Tulane University: Christopher Harter and Lee Hampton; Ralph Bunche Center, UCLA: Susan Anderson, Dalena Hunter, and Darnel Hunt; Southern California Library for Social Studies Research: Yusef Omowale, Michele Wesling, Julie Grigsby, and Racquel Chavez; Huntington Library; Missouri Historical Society; the Stuart A. Rose Library at Emory University: especially Randall Burkett and Pellom McDaniels; Emory University library staff, Marie Hansen, Jerrold Brantley and Erica Brucho; St. Louis Public Library; Alcorn State College Library: Professor J. Janice Williams; Yale University: Jacqueline Goldsby, Robert Stepto, and the staff at the Beinecke Rare Book Library; University of Arkansas, Pine Bluff Special Collections; Cleveland Public Library; Western Reserve Historical Society; Cuyahoga County Archives; Ohio State Historical Society, Columbus; Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture; Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, Howard University.
Enfin, je voudrais dire “merci” aux mes amis et frères le plus generieux qui habitant en Bouake et Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire: Eugene N’Guessen, Daouda Coulibaly, Vamara Koné, Herman Camara, Pierre Kramoko, Toh Zorobi, Zie Outtara, et Azouma Outtara. Amities.