Eric Jerome Dickey, Bestselling Author Whose Novels Focused On Black Life, Dies At 59

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Charley Gallay/Getty Images

Charley Gallay/Getty Images

Bestselling author Eric Jerome Dickey, whose novels depicted romanticism, pornography and suspense from the Black perspective, including milk in My Coffee, Sleeping with Strangers and Friends and Lovers, has died. He was 59. He died in Los Angeles on Jan. 3 after a long illness, his longtime publicist confirmed Tuesday. His publisher, Dutton, an imprint of Penguin Random House, referred to the popular writer as “ an iconic author and friend ” on social media. Dickey ‘s longtime publicist Emily Canders echoed those sentiments on Twitter adding, “ As Eric ‘s publicist for many years, I ‘ll constantly remember what a kind, genuine person he was. evening when I was a young publicist ( that decidedly made mistakes here & there ! ) he was always so courteous. And it ‘s rare to find fans more loyal than his. ”
Dickey ‘s 29 novels connected with audiences with his colloquial write style, which translated into more than 7 million copies of his books being sold worldwide. The Memphis-born writer did not set out for a career in the arts. After graduating from the University of Memphis with a degree in calculator system engineering, he left for Los Angeles to pursue a career in engineering, according to his personal web site .

But through the goad of a acquaintance, Dickey attended a writing class. As he explained to NPR ‘s News and Notes in 2006, she dropped out and he stayed.

“ It was n’t until after I left Memphis that I got to L.A. and I was exposed to a batch of people who were in the arts, ” Dickey said. “ And finally, I landed in a publish class. I actually went to the class with a supporter, who talked me into taking a classify with her because she did n’t want to be the only african American in the class. And I went reluctantly, and I stayed and she dropped out. I took a fortune of classes, I mean, and I would sometimes take class once a workweek. ” Dickey said that many of his earliest works, including 1996 ‘s Sister, Sister, focused on the lives of a certain type of Black women because, he noted, there was a miss of “ any truthful literary representation. ” “ I would say before Terry McMillan there was not any true literary representation, meaning that there were no characters who looked like them, that were going through what they were going through at the time, ” Dickey told NPR. “ We ‘re talking about women who are educated, who are coming of their own, who, you know — so we ‘re writing these very contemporary stories that they can connect to right nowadays. ”
As news of Dickey ‘s death ranch, towering voices in literature and entertainment offered condolences .

Anika Noni Rose, an actor and singer who voiced Tiana, Disney ‘s first Black princess in The Princess and the Frog, tweeted : “ RIP # EricJeromeDickey. An exposed spirit. A writing style shift writer. ” Author Roxanne Gay referred to him as “ a big storyteller. ”
“ I am rightfully saddened to hear about the fall of Eric Jerome Dickey. His were some of the first gear novels I ever read about black people that were n’t about slavery or civil rights. He was a capital storyteller. ”

Netflix executive Jasmyn Lawson besides weighed in on his passing, saying his books gave her and her friends “ insights into pleasure and autonomy ( RE the Black woman body ) we would n’t have learned at school/home. ”
Dickey is survived by four daughters, and due to coronavirus concerns there are no plans to hold funeral services at this clock time, according to his publicist. His final examination fresh, The Son of Mr. Suleman, is scheduled to be released in April .