Eric Jerome Dickey (July 7, 1961January 3, 2021) was an American author. He wrote several crime novels involving grifters, ex cons, and assassins, the latter novels having more diverse settings, moving from

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

to the United Kingdom to the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

, each having an international cast of characters. Dickey was a ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' bestselling novelist.

Early life and education

Dickey was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, on July 7, 1961. He received a Bachelor of Science from

Memphis State University The University of Memphis (Memphis) is a public university, public research university in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Founded in 1912, the university has an enrollment of more than 20,000 students. The university maintains the Herff Col ...

in 1983. At Memphis State, Dickey was a member of

Alpha Phi Alpha Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. () is the oldest intercollegiate List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. It was initially a literary and social studies club organized in the ...

fraternity. In 1983, Dickey moved to

to pursue a career in engineering. Dickey was employed in the aerospace industry working at

Rockwell International Rockwell International was a major American manufacturing conglomerate (company), conglomerate. It was involved in aircraft, the space industry, defense and commercial electronics, components in the automotive industry, printing presses, avioni ...

, ASSD division, as a software developer, before deciding that he wanted to pursue

acting Acting is an activity in which a story is told by means of its enactment by an actor who adopts a character—in theatre, television, film, radio, or any other medium that makes use of the mimetic mode. Acting involves a broad range of sk ...

and

stand-up comedy Stand-up comedy is a performance directed to a live audience, where the performer stands on a stage (theatre), stage and delivers humour, humorous and satire, satirical monologues sometimes incorporating physical comedy, physical acts. These ...

, and began on the local and national comedy circuit.

Literary career

Dickey authored fifteen novels and his work appeared in a variety of publications, including ''

Essence magazine ''Essence'' (stylized in all caps) is an American monthly lifestyle magazine covering fashion, beauty, entertainment, and culture. First published in 1970, the magazine is written for African-American women. History Edward Lewis, Clarence O ...

'', ''

USA Today ''USA Today'' (often stylized in all caps) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth in 1980 and launched on September 14, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headq ...

'', and the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''. His novels were on the bestseller lists of the "Blackboard", ''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' (''WSJ''), also referred to simply as the ''Journal,'' is an American newspaper based in New York City. The newspaper provides extensive coverage of news, especially business and finance. It operates on a subscriptio ...

'', and ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Dickey has appeared as a guest on many television shows, including

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

's '' Our Voices'' and

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

's '' Sunday Morning Live''. Dickey is the author of the graphic novel ''

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstor ...

'', which re-imagines the first meeting between the popular

X-Men The X-Men are a superhero team in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer/editor Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby, the team first appeared in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 (September 1963). Although initial ...

character

Ororo Munroe Storm is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum, the character first appeared in ''Giant-Size X-Men'' #1 (May 1975). Descended from a long line of African witc ...

and T'Challa, king of the fictional land of Wakanda and known as the

Black Panther A black panther is the Melanism, melanistic colour variant of the leopard (''Panthera pardus'') and the jaguar (''Panthera onca''). Black panthers of both species have excess black pigments, but their typical Rosette (zoology), rosettes are al ...

. He performed stand-up comedy, mostly in Southern California. He opened for Bobby "Blue" Bland at the Rialto in Tacoma, Washington. His books have been published in French, Polish, and Japanese, and several of his books have had separate printings in Great Britain. He has toured in England, France (where ''Milk in My Coffee'' was a French bestseller), and the Caribbean. Two of his novels, ''Friends and Lovers'' and ''Cheaters'' were turned into touring plays. ''Sister, Sister''; ''Friends and Lovers''; ''Milk in My Coffee''; ''Cheaters''; and ''Liar's Game'' each reached #1 on the "

Blackboard A blackboard or a chalkboard is a reusable writing surface on which text or drawings are made with sticks of calcium sulphate or calcium carbonate, better known as chalk. Blackboards were originally made of smooth, thin sheets of black or da ...

Bestsellers List". ''Cheaters'' was named "Blackboard Book of the Year" in 2000. ''Liar's Game'', ''Thieves' Paradise'', ''The Other Woman'', and ''Genevieve'' have also given Dickey the added distinction of being nominated for an NAACP Image Award in the category of Outstanding Literary Work in 2001, 2002, 2004, and 2005. In 2013, he received the R.E.A.D. Award on behalf of the National Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). A 2004 review of '' Drive Me Crazy'' in ''

'' by

Janet Maslin Janet R. Maslin (born August 12, 1949) is an American journalist, who served as a film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1977 to 1999, serving as chief critic for the last six years, and then a literary critic from 2000 to 2015. In 2000, M ...

stated, "Mr. Dickey's characters have enough sultry self-confidence to suggest, at their best, a Prince song on paper." His final novel, ''The Son of Mr. Suleman'', was released posthumously in April 2021.

Death

On January 3, 2021, Dickey died of cancer in Los Angeles, California, at the age of 59. His death was confirmed in an official statement from his publisher, Dutton. A ''New York Times'' obituary described Dickey as "one of the most successful Black authors of the last quarter-century".

Bibliography

Gideon Series

# ''Sleeping with Strangers'' (2007) # ''Waking with Enemies'' (2007) # ''Dying for Revenge'' (November 2008) # ''Resurrecting Midnight'' (August 2009) # ''Finding Gideon'' (April 2017)

Other works

* ''Sister, Sister'' (1996) * ''Friends & Lovers'' (1997), ''later adapted as a

stage play A play is a form of drama that primarily consists of dialogue between characters and is intended for theatrical performance rather than mere reading. The creator of a play is known as a playwright. Plays are staged at various levels, ranging ...

of the same name by Je'Caryous Johnson in 2004.'' * ''Milk in My Coffee'' (1998) * ''Cappuccino'' (film screenplay) (1998) * ''Cheaters'' (1999) * ''Liar's Game'' (2000) * ''Got to Be Real'' (2000) - contributing writer * ''Mothers & Sons'' (2000) - contributing writer * ''Between Lovers'' (2001) * ''Griots Beneath the Baobab: Tales from Los Angeles'' (2002) - contributing writer * ''Black Silk'' (2002) - contributing writer * ''Thieves' Paradise'' (2002) * ''Gumbo: A Celebration of African American Writing'' (2002) - contributing writer * ''The Other Woman'' (2003) * ''Naughty or Nice'' (2003) * ''Drive Me Crazy'' (2004) * ''Genevieve'' (2005) * ''Voices from the Other Side: Dark Dreams II'' (2006) - contributing writer * ''Chasing Destiny'' (2006) * ''Pleasure'' (2008) * ''Tempted by Trouble'' (August 2010) * ''An Accidental Affair'' (April 2012) * The Education of Nia Simone Bijou (February 2013) * ''Decadence'' (April 2013) * ''A Wanted Woman'' (April 2014) * ''One Night'' (April 2015) * ''Naughtier than Nice'' (October 2015) * ''The Blackbirds'' (April 2016) * ''Bad Men and Wicked Women'' (April 2018) * ''Before We Were Wicked'' (April 2019) * ''The Business of Lovers'' (April 2020) * ''The Son of Mr. Suleman'' (April 2021)

Awards

In the 2007

Glyph Comics Awards The Glyph Comics Awards is an annual award ceremony for comic creators who are people of color. The ceremony was initiated with the goal of inspiring young writers from diverse backgrounds to participate in the comics industry. The awards are ...

, the Fan Award for Best Comic was won by ''Storm''.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dickey, Eric Jerome 1961 births 2021 deaths Writers from Memphis, Tennessee African-American male comedians African-American comedians African-American novelists 20th-century American novelists American male comedians American male screenwriters University of Memphis alumni 21st-century American novelists American male novelists American erotica writers American male short story writers 20th-century American short story writers 21st-century American short story writers 20th-century American male writers 21st-century American male writers 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians Deaths from cancer in California African-American screenwriters 20th-century African-American writers 21st-century African-American writers African-American male writers Comedians from Memphis, Tennessee