We Celebrate Literary Legend Eric Jerome Dickey
Everyone has an Eric Jerome Dickey story. Whether you read his books or not, you knew about every single one of them. You, your mama or grandmama or auntie or godmother had his books on the shelf. High up. So everyone could see the colorful bindings. His name often dominated the “African American section” of Barnes and Noble, back before Amazon existed and back when bookstores were a thing. His stories titillated, tantalized, and verbalized all that was beautiful and sometimes messy about Black women, our relationships, our families, and our friendships.
Dickey, a New York Times bestselling author and multiple NAACP Image Award nominee, died on Sunday, January 3, 2020, his publicist confirms. News of his death swept through not just the literary community but the pop culture and Black church community. His books incorporated all aspects of us and did so unapologetically. He is one of a handful of writers who celebrated all parts of us in his written words.
I have one co-worker who remembers sneaking his books off her auntie’s shelves just so she could get a glimpse of what the grown folks read. I remember reading his books between college classes, trying to squeeze in Sister, Sister while also absorbing the study of quartz and limestone in earth science. Dickey’s tales were far more interesting than my school fare.
