Biography

Clarence Cooper Jr. wrote seven crime novels, which describe life in Black America, in the underworld of drugs and violence and in jail (The Farm). Cooper worked as an editor for The Chicago Messenger around 1955. He was said to have started taking heroin at this time. His first book, The Scene was a success with the critics. It had been published by serious Random House

Random House

Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...

, but his other three books were published by Regency, a pure paperback publisher, while Cooper was in prison in Detroit: Weed (1961). The Dark Messenger (1962) and Yet Princess Follow together with Not We Many, as Black: Two Short Novels (1962). Harlan Ellison

Harlan Ellison

Harlan Jay Ellison is an American writer. His principal genre is speculative fiction.His published works include over 1,700 short stories, novellas, screenplays, teleplays, essays, a wide range of criticism covering literature, film, television, and print media...

 was his editor. His last book, The Farm, plays at the Lexington prison for drug addicts, once called U.S. Narcotics Farm. Cooper' s addiction and a growing alienation from those around him, perhaps driven by the hostile response to his fiction all contributed to his early destitute death.

Death

He died penniless, strung out and alone in the 23rd street YMCA

YMCA

The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...

 New York City in 1978.

Published works

• The Syndicate (1960). as Robert Chestnut, Chicago: Newsstand
• The Scene (1960), described by the Library of Congress
  Library of Congress
  The Library of Congress is the research library of the United States Congress, de facto national library of the United States, and the oldest federal cultural institution in the United States. Located in three buildings in Washington, D.C., it is the largest library in the world by shelf space and...
  
   as autobiographical. ISBN 0-393-31463-4.
• Weed (1961).
• The Dark Messenger (1962)
• Black, 2 short novels: Yet Princess Follow, Not We Many (1962)
• The Farm (1967). Crown Publishers. repr. ISBN 0-393-31785-4.
• Black (1997), a collection of 3 short novels: The Dark Messenger, Yet Princes Follow, Not We Many. ISBN 0-393-31541-X.
• Weed and The Syndicate (1998)

External links

• Marc Gerald. "Old School Noir", Salon.com
  Salon.com
  Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...
  
  , 1997-03-07