Harry Crews
Harry Crews was an influential American author known for his distinctive Southern gothic writing style, characterized by themes of misfits and grotesque characters. Born on June 6, 1935, in Alma, Georgia, Crews faced a tumultuous childhood marked by poverty, family violence, and personal injury, which profoundly shaped his literary voice. After serving in the Marine Corps, he pursued a passion for writing, graduating from the University of Florida in 1960. His debut novel, *The Gospel Singer*, established his signature blend of tragic and comedic elements and set the tone for a body of work that includes notable titles like *Naked in Garden Hills* and *A Feast of Snakes*.
Throughout his career, Crews explored complex themes such as corporate greed and personal struggle, also embarking on various writing forms, including memoirs and screenplays. Despite facing personal challenges, including substance abuse and family tragedies, he remained a prolific writer, contributing to literary magazines and public discourse. He was recognized for his contributions to literature with his induction into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in 2001. Crews lived in Gainesville, Florida, where he continued to inspire readers and writers alike with his unique perspective and storytelling.
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Subject Terms
Harry Crews
Writer
- Born: June 6, 1935
- Birthplace: Alma, Georgia
- Died: March 28, 2012
Biography
Harry Eugene Crews was born on June 6, 1935, in Alma, a village in financially strapped Bacon County, Georgia. He was the second son of poor tenant farmers Ray and Myrtice (Haselden) Crews. Harry’s father died before he was two years of age, and his mother married his uncle, Pascal, who turned out to be a violent drunk. At the age of five, Harry suffered a debilitating affliction—perhaps psychosomatic as the result of family squabbles—that paralyzed his legs for months. Shortly after he recovered, he was severely scalded when he fell into a vat of boiling water, and spent many painful months regrowing skin.
When Crews’s mother divorced Pascal after several years of marriage, she moved the family to Jacksonville, Florida, and worked in a cigar factory. Harry graduated from high school there, and immediately enlisted in the Marine Corps, intending to join his older brother in Korea. However, the war ended before he shipped overseas, and Harry spent three years of service reading, particularly the works of Mickey Spillane and Graham Greene.
Soon after his discharge, Crews enrolled at the University of Florida on the G.I. Bill with visions of becoming a writer. He dropped out after eighteen months to travel the country via motorcycle, working as bartender, short-order cook, and carnival sideshow barker. He returned to Florida and the university, married Sally Ellis, and graduated in 1960. Their first child, Patrick Scott, was born later that year. Harry briefly taught junior-high English before enrolling for graduate study. He and Sally divorced, later remarried and produced a second son in 1963, then divorced again after their first son accidentally drowned in 1964. Harry began drinking heavily.
Crews taught English at Broward Junior College from 1962 to 1968 and at the University of Florida from 1968 until the late 1990’s. His first novel, The Gospel Singer (1968), set the tone for much of his work to follow: It is highly autobiographical, populated by misfits, deformed and grotesque characters, the plot is an extreme and violent blend of tragedy and comedy—in other words, a shining example of the Southern gothic tradition.
Later Crews works have expanded upon these themes. Naked in Garden Hills (1969) involves a grossly fat man who becomes a tragic figure; Car (1972) concerns a man who attempts to consume an automobile bit by bit; A Feast of Snakes (1976), as the title implies, is a herpetophobic’s nightmare; The Mulching of America (1995) deals with corporate greed and success at any price.
In addition to novels—with a decade’s hiatus between the mid-1970’s and mid-1980’s while writing a column for Esquire magazine, getting caught up in the celebrity interview-documentary circuit, and undergoing three rehabilitation sessions for drug and alcohol abuse—Crews wrote widely in other forms. His well-received memoir, A Childhood: The Biography of a Place, was published in 1978. His short fiction, published in Sewanee Review, Georgia Review, and Playboy, was collected, along with thought-provoking essays, in Florida Frenzy (1982). His one play to date, Blood Issue, was produced in 1989. He wrote several screenplays, and at least two of his books have been optioned for film.
A larger-than-life character—decorated with tattoos and occasionally sporting shaved head or Mohawk haircut—that might have stepped out of one of his own bizarre though strangely appealing novels, Harry Crews was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in 2001. He resided in Gainesville, Florida.