Story-telling and oral tradition were a powerful part of African American life in the rural South. Ernest Gaines at his young age absorbed the stories of his family and neighbors, acquiring a sense of history and an ear for the rhythms of vernacular speech. The only school for African American children in the district was conducted in a single room of the black church.
During World War II, his mother and stepfather, like many African Americans of their generation, left the South to find work in the booming wartime economy. At 15, Gaines joined his mother and stepfather in Vallejo, California, northeast of San Francisco. To keep him off the streets and out of trouble, his stepfather urged him to spend time in the public library.
Ernest Gaines wrote novels.His first novel, Catherine Carmier, was published in 1964. A tragic love story played out against the complex caste system of rural Louisiana.Since 1983, Ernest Gaines has been Writer-in-Residence at the University of Louisiana, Lafayette.