Harry Crews

For the band of the same name, see Harry Crews (band).
Harry Eugene Crews
Born (1935-06-07)June 7, 1935
Alma, Georgia
Died March 28, 2012(2012-03-28) (aged 76)
Gainesville, Florida
Occupation Writer
Nationality American
Genre Novel, short story, essay

Harry Eugene Crews (June 7, 1935 – March 28, 2012) was an American novelist, playwright, short story writer and essayist.

Life and work

Crews was born in Bacon County, Georgia, in 1935[1] and served in the Marines during the Korean War.[2] He attended the University of Florida on the GI Bill, but dropped out to travel. Eventually returning to the university, Crews finally graduated and moved his wife, Sally, and son, Patrick Scott, to Jacksonville where he taught English at Lakeshore Junior High School for a year.

Crews returned to Gainesville and the university to work on his master's in English Education. It was during this period that he and Sally divorced for the first time. Crews continued his studies, graduated, and – denied entrance into UF's Creative Writing program – took a teaching position at Broward Community College in the subject of English. It was here in south Florida that Crews convinced Sally to return to him, and they were remarried. A second son, Byron, was born to them in 1963. Crews returned to University of Florida in 1968 not as a student, but as a member of the faculty in Creative Writing. Crews formerly taught in the creative writing program at the University of Florida.[3] In 1964, Patrick Scott drowned in a neighbor's pool. This proved to be too heavy a burden on the family, and Crews and Sally were once again divorced.[4]

Crews' first published novel, The Gospel Singer, appeared in 1968.[2] His novels include: A Feast of Snakes, The Hawk Is Dying, Body, Scar Lover, The Knockout Artist, Karate Is a Thing of the Spirit, All We Need of Hell, The Mulching of America, Car, and Celebration. Crews published a memoir in 1978 titled A Childhood: The Biography of a Place. Crews wrote essays for Esquire, Playboy, and Fame. He had a column in Esquire called "Grits" for fourteen months in the 1970s, where he covered such topics as cockfighting and dog fighting.[2] Crews had a tattoo on his right arm which said: "How do you like your blue eyed boy Mr. Death" (from the poem Buffalo Bill's by E. E. Cummings) beneath a skull.[4]

The University of Georgia acquired Harry Crews's papers in August 2006. The archive includes manuscripts and typescripts of his fiction, correspondence, and notes made by Crews while on assignment. Guides to his collections are available at http://hmfa.libs.uga.edu/hmfa/search?keyword=&title=&creator=crews&year=&year-max=&smode=advanced.[5]

Crews died March 28, 2012, from complications of neuropathy.[6]

In popular culture

See also

Bibliography

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Novels

Collections

Limited Editions

Autobiography

References

  1. ↑ Elaine Woo "Harry Crews dies at 76; Southern writer with darkly comic vision", Los Angeles Times, April 1, 2012
  2. 1 2 3 Walt Harrington, ed. (2005). "Contributors". The Beholder's Eye: A Collection of America's Finest Personal Journalism. New York: Grove Press. p. x. ISBN 0-8021-4224-9.
  3. ↑ "Department of English". University of Florida. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  4. 1 2 Michael Carlson Obituary: Harry Crews, The Guardian, April 10, 2012
  5. ↑ "Harry Crews: Biographical Sketch". Retrieved October 24, 2011.
  6. ↑ Margalit Fox "Harry Crews, Writer of Dark Fiction, Is Dead at 76", New York Times, March 30, 2012
  7. ↑ https://books.google.com.au/books?id=W4Tee1PntoQC&pg=PA161&dq=the+new+kids+harry+crews&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CB0Q6wEwAGoVChMIntqW__SexwIVRCimCh3GLQGh#v=onepage&q=the%20new%20kids%20harry%20crews&f=false
  8. ↑ Felperin, Leslie (December 17, 2003). "Searching for the Wrong-Eyed Jesus". Variety. Reed Business Information. Retrieved October 6, 2009.
  9. ↑ "Harry Crews: Survival Is Triumph Enough". IMDb. Retrieved August 10, 2011.
  10. ↑ http://www.floridatrend.com/article/111/icon-harry-crews

Further reading

External links

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