Chester Himes: A Writer's Turbulent Journey
- Directed by
- John Musilli
Author Chester Himes speaks about his turbulent youth, his early works, and the role of the African-American writer in this 30-minute documentary produced by John Musilli. Born in 1909, Himes was convicted of armed robbery and incarcerated in the Ohio State Penitentiary from 1928 to 1936. He went on to become a research assistant at the Cleveland Public Library and worked for the Ohio Writer's Project. He is best known for his novels, including Cotton Comes to Harlem, The Crazy Kill, and Blind Man With a Pistol. A highlight of the video is Himes' narration of an illustrated memoir about Harlem in the World War II era.