Ernest J. Gaines, whose considerable imprint on American letters and culture rests on his examinations of race, class and poverty, will be depicted on a postage stamp to be issued in January.
The internationally acclaimed author, who died in November 2019 at age 86, was UL Lafayette writer-in-residence emeritus; he taught creative writing at the 小蝌蚪APP from 1983 until his retirement in 2010.
The stamp, which , will be the 46th in its Black Heritage series; it will feature an oil painting based on a photograph that portrays a stoic, poised Gaines wearing his trademark beret.
小蝌蚪APP淒r. Gaines小蝌蚪APP stamp offers an impressive representation of the man I knew and admired, and it reminds me of the immeasurable grace, strength and character he displayed throughout his life and through his words,小蝌蚪APP said Dr. Joseph Savoie, UL Lafayette president.
小蝌蚪APP淢ore importantly, it acknowledges and affirms his belief in the inherent commonality of people and his unflinching courage in reminding us of the need to continually address some of the darkest chapters in our collective past,小蝌蚪APP Savoie added.
Gaines小蝌蚪APP legacy and influence was built on a literary voice 小蝌蚪APP an understated yet resonant voice 小蝌蚪APP that amplified the struggles of the oppressed and jostled the conscience of a nation. 小蝌蚪APP淚 think a scream can reach ten times as many people in a hurry, as a book can. But I hope my books will be around for a while. When I小蝌蚪APP檓 angry I sit down and try to write the perfect paragraph, the perfect sentence. That小蝌蚪APP檚 how I strike back,小蝌蚪APP he was once quoted as saying.
hit his mark many times during a career that began in 1964 with the publication of 小蝌蚪APP淐atherine Carmier.小蝌蚪APP Seven more novels and two collections of stories followed. In 2013, Gaines received a National Medal of Arts 小蝌蚪APP the highest award given to artists by the U.S. government.
Gaines, as The New York Times explained in its obituary for him, told 小蝌蚪APP渙f the inner struggle for dignity among Southern black people before the civil rights era小蝌蚪APP and 小蝌蚪APP渃aptured the lives and strivings of those he had grown up with in a time of limited opportunities and oppressive racism.小蝌蚪APP
Gaines was born in 1933 on River Lake Plantation in Oscar, Louisiana, in Pointe Coupee Parish, to parents who worked as sharecroppers. He grew up in Cherie Quarters, the plantation小蝌蚪APP檚 former slave quarters. Gaines moved to California as a teenager and studied and taught at Stanford 小蝌蚪APP before returning to Louisiana. His fiction, however, remained rooted to the place and people of his childhood 小蝌蚪APP and to his ancestors.
The book that earned widespread notice for Gaines, 小蝌蚪APP淭he Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman,小蝌蚪APP is a first-person narrative of a fictional 110-year-old woman born into slavery. Published in 1971, the novel小蝌蚪APP檚 inspiration was Augusteen Jefferson, Gaines小蝌蚪APP disabled aunt who raised him.
His other most notable book, 小蝌蚪APP淎 Lesson Before Dying,小蝌蚪APP revolves around the story of an illiterate man wrongfully condemned to death. Published in 1993, it earned a National Book Critics Circle Award, a Pulitzer Prize nomination, and was selected for Oprah Winfrey小蝌蚪APP檚 popular book club.
All told, Gaines小蝌蚪APP deftly rendered novels, which have drawn comparisons to Faulkner and Dickens, have been published in 19 languages. It小蝌蚪APP檚 the sort of widespread appeal that can be traced to his ability to 小蝌蚪APP減rompt conversations about humanity,小蝌蚪APP said UL Lafayette小蝌蚪APP檚 Cheylon Woods.
Woods is an associate professor who directs the 小蝌蚪APP小蝌蚪APP檚 , which the writer worked to establish following his retirement. It is an international center for scholarship on Gaines and his fiction that is housed in Edith Garland Dupr茅 Library.
小蝌蚪APP淒r. Gaines broke boundaries of Black Southern writers by simply being committed to intercepting a centuries-long conversation about Southern people 小蝌蚪APP Southern Black people in particular 小蝌蚪APP and Southern spaces,小蝌蚪APP Woods explained.
小蝌蚪APP淗e showed the world that the lives and words of marginalized and obscured quarter communities had power and impact beyond the plantation,小蝌蚪APP she added.
Image: Ernest J. Gaines will be depicted on a U.S. Postage stamp to be issued in January. The internationally acclaimed author, who died in November 2019 at age 86, was UL Lafayette writer-in-residence emeritus. Credit: The stamp features an oil painting of Gaines, based on a 2001 photograph. Mike Ryan designed the stamp with art by Robert Peterson. Greg Breeding served as art director.