Robert Deane Pharr (1916–1989 or 1992) was an African-American novelist. Pharr attended Saint Paul's Normal and Industrial School, Lincoln University,

Virginia Union University Virginia Union University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black university in Richmond, Virginia. History The American Baptist Home Mission Society (ABHMS) founded the school as Rich ...

and

Fisk University Fisk University is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Nashville, Tennessee. It was founded in 1866 and its campus i ...

, but spent most of his career working as a

waiter Waiting staff (British English, BrE), waiters () / waitresses (), or servers (AmE) are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a Bar (establishment), bar and sometimes in private homes, attending to customers by supplying them with food an ...

. He graduated from Virginia Union University in 1939, and did graduate work at Fisk,

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

, and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He described his goal when he started writing as to be a "black

Sinclair Lewis Harry Sinclair Lewis (February 7, 1885 – January 10, 1951) was an American novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1930, he became the first author from the United States (and the first from the America ...

". He is best known for his debut novel ''The Book of Numbers'' (1969), about the

numbers racket The numbers game, also known as the numbers racket, the Italian lottery, Mafia lottery, or the daily number, is a form of illegal gambling or illegal lottery played mostly in poor and working-class neighborhoods in the United States, wherein a ...

, which was adapted into a 1973 film of the same name. A draft of his novel ''Giveadamn Brown'' and related correspondence were given to the Archives and Special Collections Department, L. Douglas Wilder Library, at

Works

* ''The Book of Numbers'' (1969) * ''S.R.O.'' (1971) * ''The Welfare Bitch'' (1973)This title appears to have been unpublished. See: Greene, Brian. "A Black Sinclair Lewis: The Novels of Robert Deane Pharr." In ''Sticking It to the Man: Revolution and Counterculture in Pulp and Popular Fiction, 1950 to 1980''. Andrew Nette and Iain McIntyre, editors. Oakland, California: PM Press, 2020.
page 130
* ''The Soul Murder Case'' (1975) * ''Giveadamn Brown'' (1978)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pharr, Robert Deane 1916 births 20th-century deaths Year of death uncertain African-American novelists 20th-century American novelists 20th-century African-American writers