Early was born on April 21, 1952, in Philadelphia, the son of Henry Early and Florence Fernandez Oglesby. His father, a baker, died when Early was nine months old, leaving his mother, a preschool teacher, to raise him and his two sisters on her own. Living in a poor area of the city, Early grew up befriending members of the Fifth and the South Street gangs, though he never became a member himself. Instead he focused on scholarly pursuits, graduating cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania in 1974. During Early's undergraduate years, he was introduced to the writings of Amiri Baraka and later credited the poet and playwright with influencing his own work. Early developed much of his writing style through involvement with the university newspaper. Ironically, his first major piece was a journalistic foray into the gang-related murder of a cousin.[3]
After earning his B.A. degree, Early remained in Philadelphia, where he became employed by the city government. He also spent six months monitoring gang activities through the Crisis Intervention Network, before resuming his course work at Cornell University, where he eventually earned a doctorate in English literature in 1982. Early landed his first teaching job as an assistant professor of black studies at St. Louis's Washington University in 1982. He steadily rose to a full professorship in both the English and the renamed African and Afro-American studies departments by 1990.[4]
Personal life
On August 27, 1977, Early married Ida Haynes, a college administrator. They have two children, Linnet Kristen Haynes Early and Rosalind Lenora Haynes Early.
Awards and honors
Early won a Whiting Award in 1988 for creative nonfiction.
For his essay collection The Culture of Bruising: Essays on Prizefighting, Literature, and Modern American Culture, he won the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award.
He has been nominated twice for the Grammy Award for Best Album Notes. Once in 2001, for Yes I Can! The Sammy Davis Jr. Story, and again in 2002 for Rhapsodies in Black: Music and Words From The Harlem Renaissance.
On September 5, 2007, Early was honored by Washington University with the unveiling of a portrait painted by Jamie Adams that hangs in the Journals Reading Room of the university's Olin Library.
On February 19, 2022, the Chicago suburb of Park Forest rededicated Early Street, initially named for the Confederate general, in Gerald Early's honor in an effort to celebrate the historic diversity of the village.[6]
Works
Tuxedo Junction: Essays on American Culture (1989)
Life with Daughters:Watching the Miss America Pageant (1990)
The Culture of Bruising: Essays on Prizefighting, Literature, and Modern American Culture (1994)
Daughters: On Family and Fatherhood (1994) (memoir)
One Nation Under a Groove: Motown & American Culture (1994) (music history)
How the War in the Streets Is Won: Poems on the Quest of Love and Faith (Time Being Books, 1995) (poetry)
Yes I Can! The Sammy Davis Jr. Story (2001) nominated for a Grammy (Best Album Notes)
