Donald Goines
Donald Goines was an American author, born in 1937 in Detroit, who became known for his gritty crime novels reflecting the struggles of urban life. Raised in a family that owned a dry cleaning business, Goines initially followed a conventional path, attending Catholic school. However, his life took a dramatic turn when he enlisted in the army, only to return home addicted to heroin. To finance his addiction, Goines engaged in criminal activities, leading to multiple incarcerations where he began writing. His first major work, "Whoreson" (1972), explored themes of prostitution and drew from his own experiences. Over the next few years, he published over a dozen novels, primarily focusing on inner-city crime, all while grappling with his drug dependency. Tragically, Goines's life was cut short when he and his wife were murdered in 1974, a case that remains unsolved. His legacy endures through his impactful storytelling, which vividly captured the harsh realities of his life and environment.
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Subject Terms
Donald Goines
Author
- Born: 1937
- Birthplace: Detroit, Michigan
- Died: 1974
Biography
Donald Goines was born in Detroit in 1937. His parents owned a local dry cleaning business. He attended Catholic grade school and did not appear to pose any discipline problems in his early life. His parents hoped that he would take over the family business after graduation, but instead Goines lied to enlist in the army. Goines was stationed in Japan, and when he returned home in 1955 he was hooked on heroin.
To support his drug habit, Goines turned to crime. He pimped, stole, and robbed to pay for his habit. In between these times, Goines was in prison. He served seven sentences that added up to nearly seven years. It was in prison that Goines first began to write. His earliest efforts were Westerns, a genre that Goines knew well from the movies. After reading the works of others, he wrote Whoreson (1972), a semiautobiographical work about prostitution.
Goines was released from prison in 1970, and he began to write his gritty inner-city crime novels. Over the next four years, he wrote more than a dozen novels, all of which were published by Holloway House as paperback originals. His success did not diminish his need for heroin, and Goines returned to his habit. As he wrote, Goines first moved his family to the Watts area of Los Angeles and then returned to Detroit. Goines and his wife were brutally murdered in 1974 in a suspected drug deal. The murders were never solved.