24 Facts About Harry Crews

Harry Eugene Crews was an American novelist, short story writer, and essayist.

Harry Crews often made use of violent, grotesque characters and set them in regions of the Deep South.

Harry Crews was born June 7,1935, during the Great Depression to two poor tenant farmers in Bacon County, Georgia.

Harry Crews's father died while he was still a baby, and his mother soon remarried to his father's brother.

Harry Crews was originally told by doctors that he would not be able to walk again.

Harry Crews's head did not go under the water, which saved his life, according to doctors.

Harry Crews suffered extreme burns on most of the rest of his body.

Harry Crews was unable to leave the bed when he was healing.

Harry Crews finished high school there as a below average student.

Harry Crews graduated from the University of Florida with a degree in English, and eventually received a graduate degree of education.

Harry Crews then began teaching English, which he continued to do for the rest of his career, along with his career as a writer.

Harry Crews tried to perform mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but this proved ineffectual.

Harry Crews's sole surviving son, Byron Jason Crews, is personal representative and acting executor of the Harry Crews Literary Estate.

Harry Crews often set precise due times to finish whatever he was working on, and so had quick turnaround between writings.

Harry Crews's works were known to feature "freaks", and "outcasts", usually from rural areas.

Harry Crews felt strongly that authors should write about experiences that they have actually had.

Harry Crews and Sally learned karate together, which then influenced Karate Is a Thing of the Spirit.

Harry Crews himself had a fascination with hawks for a period of time, and even trapped and trained them so they would sit on his arm.

Harry Crews himself trained his girlfriend, Maggie Powell, who would become a Southeast bodybuilding champion.

Harry Crews died on March 28,2012, from complications of neuropathy.

Harry Crews's sole surviving son, Byron J Crews, is professor emeritus of English and Dramatic Writing at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

Harry Crews's work has become synonymous with the genre Grit Lit.

Harry Crews is considered a major influence, alongside Flannery O'Connor, Cormac McCarthy, and Barry Hannah, along with later writers in the genre including Larry Brown, Dorothy Allison, and Donald Ray Pollock.

Harry Crews's work has become synonymous with the "Rough South," though he did not like the label "Southern writer".