Synopses & Reviews
A black man's struggles from the Thirties through the Seventies provide the focus for this collection of essays, articles, fiction, and poetry. As a charter member of the Watts Writers Workshop, Jackson gained the attention and respect of Budd Schulberg for the stories of his childhood in Houston and his service in the army. A high school dropout, Jackson dedicated his life to writing, a habit that kept him in poverty; he worked at odd jobs until his death at age 59.
About the Author
James Thomas Jackson left Houston for the promise of Los Angeles about the time of the Watts Riots, joined Budd Schulberg's Watts Writers Workshop and began writing for the Los Angeles Times Sunday arts magazine. From a black perspective, Jackson's work forms a particular and important testimony, both positive and negative, about life in the United States from the 1930s through the 1960s. Jackson died in 1985.