Himes, Chester B. (Chester Bomar), 1909-1984

Dates

• Existence: 1909 - 1984

Biographical Statement

Chester Himes was an African American novelist and short story writer whose works reflected themes of race, sex, and power. His most well-known works were a series of novels set in Harlem featuring the detectives Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson.

Chester Bomar Himes was born July 29, 1909, in Jefferson City, Missouri. He was the youngest of three sons born to college professor Joseph S. Himes and teacher Estelle Himes (nee Bomar). At the age of twelve-years-old, Himes' brother, Joseph, was injured in a school science experiment and was refused medical treatment at a local segregated hospital. Himes, himself, would later be refused medical treatment in much the same manner after he fell down an elevator shaft and injured his back. These experiences would fundamentally shape Chester Himes' perceptions of race within the United States.

Himes graduated high school in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1926 and entered Ohio State University. He became increasingly attracted to the black underworld and was expelled from the university. He returned to Cleveland and after multiple arrests, Himes was sent to the Ohio State Penitentiary for armed robbery. While in prison, Himes turned to writing and began finding acceptance for his work. His early writings reflected his own criminal and prison experiences.

Himes was released from prison in 1936. He married Jean Johnson and began work for the Works Progress Administration under the Ohio Writers' Project. Himes and his wife moved to Los Angeles in 1940, where Himes found work in shipyards and in the war industry plants. His early novels, If He Hollers Let Him Go (1945) and Lonely Crusade (1947) reflected his dissatisfaction with the bigotry and politics he encountered. Following receipt of a Rosenwald Fellowship in 1944, Himes moved to New York City to pursue his writing.

Himes and his wife separated in 1952 and he soon left the United States for France. He became part of the African American expatriate community in Paris, which also included Richard Wright and James Baldwin. He eventually met an Englishwoman, Lesley Packard in 1958 and the two married in 1965. At the suggestions of Marcel Duhamel, Himes tried writing commercial detective fiction. His first such novel, For Love of Imabelle, won the French Grand Prix for best detective fiction in 1958.

From then on, Himes' literary output included a series of detective novels set in Harlem featuring the characters Gravedigger Jones and Coffin Ed Johnson. He also continued to write non-detective fiction, essays, and two autobiographies, The Quality of Hurt (1972) and My Life of Absurdity (1976). Himes and his wife, Lesley, settled in Spain where he lived the last sixteen years of his life and entertained younger African American writers, journalists, and scholars interested in his work. Himes' health deteriorated to the point where Lesley became his caretaker until he passed away on November 12, 1984.

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