Ernest J. Gaines was born on a plantation in Pointe Coupée Parish near New Roads, Louisiana, which is the Bayonne of all his fictional works. His novels include the much-acclaimed The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, Of Love and Dust, Catherine Carmier, Bloodline, and In My Father’s House. He divides his time between San Francisco and the University of Southwestern Louisiana, in Lafayette, where he holds a visiting professorship in creative writing. His new novel, A Lesson Before Dying, will be published by Alfred A. Knopf in 1993.