Writers Don't Really Die

Nikki Giovanni says of writing, "We write because we believe the human spirit cannot be tamed and should not be trained."

Finally, James Baldwin said, "Any writer, I suppose, feels that the world into which he was born is nothing less than a conspiracy against the cultivation of his talent."

For generations writers have told us why they write and the reasons differ as much as the writers themselves do. To read a writer's work is to know that writer in an intimate way; this is a unique kinship between the writer and reader. Even though the written word is akin to immortality, which is, as long as the words remain the writer lives. Even with this realization, knowing that a writer’s period of creativity is over is painful.

Having the opportunity to read and share thoughts, feelings and impressions about African American Literature and Poetry is cause for celebration. And there is no lack of talented writers living and writing today, of this I am aware. What of our elders though, what about those who wrote before us? We cannot forget in this modern day those who paved the way with less than welcoming receptions.

I received word of the death of one such poet months ago. I tapped all my resources looking for information about this poet and only unearthed a few paragraphs. The idea of an outstanding poet like this man only marginally represented in biographical publications I thought was shameful. However, the thought occurred to me that although I didn't find much in the way of biographical information about Raymond R. Patterson, I have his poetry and that speaks volumes about the man and his life.

Raymond R. Patterson (1929 - 2001)
Patterson grew up on Long Island, NY and attended college in PA and NY. He was a poet, writer and professor emeritus of English at City College of the City University of New York since 1968.

Patterson is the author of 26 Ways of Looking at a Black Man and Other Poems (Award Books, 1969) and "Elemental Blues" (Cross-Cultural Communications, 1983). He also wrote librettos for two operas by Hale Smith, "David Walker" and "Goree."

His poetry has appeared in various publications as well as in numerous anthologies including "The Poetry of the Negro," "New Black Voices," "The Norton Introduction to Literature" and

The copyright of the article Writers Don't Really Die in African-American Authors is owned by Walter Benefield. Permission to republish Writers Don't Really Die in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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