# Donald Goines

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{{Short description|American writer (1936–1974)}}
{{Infobox writer <!-- for more information see [:Template:Infobox writer/doc](/source/%3ATemplate%3AInfobox_writer%2Fdoc) -->
| name        = '''Donald Goines'''  
| image       = Donald goines.jpg
| birth_date  = {{birth date|1936|12|15|mf=y}}
| birth_place = [Detroit, Michigan](/source/Detroit%2C_Michigan), US
| death_date  = {{death date and age|1974|10|21|1936|12|15}}
| death_place = [Highland Park, Michigan](/source/Highland_Park%2C_Michigan), US
| pseudonym = Al C. Clark
| occupation  = [Novelist](/source/Novelist)
| movement = [Black literature](/source/African-American_literature)
| notableworks = [Kenyatta series](/source/Kenyatta_series) (''Crime Partners'', ''Death List'', ''Kenyatta's Escape'', ''Kenyatta's Last Hit'')<br>''Black Gangster''<br>''[Dopefiend](/source/Dopefiend)''<br>''[Never Die Alone](/source/Never_Die_Alone)''<br>''[Whoreson](/source/Whoreson_(novel))''
}}

'''Donald Goines''' (pseudonym: '''Al C. Clark'''; December 15, 1936 – October 21, 1974) was an [African-American](/source/African-American) writer of [urban fiction](/source/urban_fiction).<ref name="KK" /> His novels were deeply influenced by the work of [Iceberg Slim](/source/Iceberg_Slim).

==Early life and family==
Goines was born in [Detroit, Michigan](/source/Detroit) on December 15, 1936. His parents were a middle-class [Black Catholic](/source/Black_Catholicism) couple that ran a laundry business. His mother Myrtle Goines told Goines that her family was descended from [Jefferson Davis](/source/Jefferson_Davis) and a woman who was [enslaved](/source/Slavery_in_the_United_States).<ref name="NYT" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=McGraw |first=Bill |title=Donald Goines becomes a pop-culture star half a century after his violent death |url=https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/01/02/donald-goines-pop-culture-star-books/9049479002/ |access-date=2023-02-05 |website=Detroit Free Press |language=en-US}}</ref> Donald was the middle child of three, and the only son.<ref name= Power>{{cite news| url= https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/raw-power/Content?oid=910356| work= [Chicago Reader](/source/Chicago_Reader)| date= November 14, 2012| title= Raw Power | first= Michael| last= Marsh| access-date= August 17, 2017}}</ref>

At age 15, Goines lied about his age to join the [Air Force](/source/United_States_Air_Force) and fought in the [Korean War](/source/Korean_War).<ref name="TLR">{{cite book|last=Allen|first=Eddie|title=Low Road: The Life and Legacy of Donald Goines| year= 2003| publisher= MacMillan|isbn=0312383517|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LNzGBUGGhwQC&q=%22dONALD+gOINES%22}}</ref>

==Adult life==
During his stint in the Armed Forces, Goines developed an addiction to [heroin](/source/heroin) that continued after his [honorable discharge](/source/honorable_discharge) in the mid-1950s. In order to support his addiction, Goines committed crimes including pimping, larceny, robbery, illegal liquor manufacturing and theft.<ref name= Power /> He lived in several cities, including [Kansas City, Missouri](/source/Kansas_City%2C_Missouri) and [Junction City, Kansas](/source/Junction_City%2C_Kansas), but mostly in his native Detroit. He was sentenced to prison several times, both state and federal.<ref name="NYT" /><ref name= Power />

He began writing while serving a sentence in Michigan's Jackson Penitentiary. Goines initially attempted to write [Western](/source/Western_(genre))s, but he decided to write urban fiction after reading [Robert "Iceberg Slim" Beck](/source/Iceberg_Slim)'s autobiography ''Pimp: The Story of My Life''.<ref name="KK">{{cite web |url=http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/goines.htm |title=Donald Goines |website=kirjasto.sci.fi |first=Petri |last=Liukkonen |publisher=[Kuusankoski](/source/Kuusankoski) Public Library |location=Finland |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20060716222452/http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/goines.htm |archivedate=16 July 2006 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name= Power />

Goines continued to write novels at an accelerated pace in order to support his drug addictions, with some books taking only a month to complete.<ref name="NYT" /> His sister Joan Goines Coney later said that Goines wrote at such an accelerated pace in order to avoid committing more crimes, and based many of the characters in his books on people he knew in real life.<ref name="MT">{{cite news|last=Allen|first=Eddie|title=Detroit-sploi-tation|url=http://www2.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=6054|accessdate=16 December 2012|newspaper=Metro Times|date=2004-03-24|archive-date=2007-08-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818014054/http://www.metrotimes.com/editorial/story.asp?id=6054|url-status=dead}}</ref> He completed 16 books.<ref name= Power />

In 1974 Goines published ''Crime Partners'', the first book in the [''Kenyatta'' series](/source/Kenyatta_series) under the name Al C. Clark. [Holloway House](/source/Holloway_House)'s chief executive Bentley Morriss requested that Goines publish the book under a [pseudonym](/source/pseudonym) in order to avoid having the sales of Goines's work suffer due to too many books releasing at once.<ref name="TLR" /> The book dealt with an anti-hero character named after [Jomo Kenyatta](/source/Jomo_Kenyatta) that ran an organization similar to the [Black Panthers](/source/Black_Panther_Party) to clear the ghetto of crime. In his book ''The Low Road'', Eddie B. Allen remarks that the series was a departure from some of Goines's other works, with the character of Kenyatta symbolizing a sense of liberation for Goines.<ref name="TLR" />

''Inner City Hoodlum'', which Goines had finished before his death, was published posthumously in 1975. Set in [Los Angeles](/source/Los_Angeles), the novel was about heroin, money and murder.

==Death==
On October 21, 1974, Goines and his common-law wife Shirley Sailor were discovered dead in their [Highland Park, Michigan](/source/Highland_Park%2C_Michigan) apartment. The police had received an anonymous phone call earlier that evening and responded, discovering Goines in the living room of the apartment and Sailor's body in the kitchen.<ref name="MT" /> Both Goines and Sailor had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to the chest and head.<ref name="TLR" />

The identity of the two gunmen<ref name= Power /> is unknown, as is the reason behind the murders.<ref name="TLR" /> Popular theories involve Goines being murdered due to his basing several of his characters on real life criminals, and the theory that Goines was killed due to him being in debt over drugs.<ref name="TLR" />

At his funeral, a relative placed a book with Goines in his casket, but it was stolen.<ref name= Power />

==Novels==

===[''Kenyatta'' series](/source/Kenyatta_series)===
#''Crime Partners'' (1974) [as Al C. Clark]
#''Death List'' (1974) [as Al C. Clark]
#''Kenyatta's Escape'' (1974) [as Al C. Clark]
#''Kenyatta's Last Hit'' (1975) [as Al C. Clark]

===Stand alone novels===
*''[Dopefiend](/source/Dopefiend)'' (1971)
*''[Whoreson](/source/Whoreson_(novel))'' (1972)
*''Black Gangster'' (1972)
*''Street Players'' (1973)
*''White Man's Justice, Black Man's Grief'' (1973)
*''[Black Girl Lost](/source/Black_Girl_Lost)'' (1974)
*''[Eldorado Red](/source/Eldorado_Red)'' (1974)
*''[Swamp Man](/source/Swamp_Man_(the_novel_by_Donald_Goines))'' (1974)
*''Never Die Alone'' (1974)
*''[Cry Revenge](/source/Cry_Revenge)'' (1974) [as Al C. Clark]
*''[Daddy Cool](/source/Daddy_Cool_(the_novel_by_Donald_Goines))'' (1974)
*''Inner City Hoodlum'' (1975)

==Legacy==
Goines's writing has had an impact upon several people, with several [rappers](/source/rapping) inserting mentions of Goines and his writing into their lyrics. In his 1996 song ''[Tradin' War Stories](/source/All_Eyez_On_Me)'', legendary [West Coast](/source/West_Coast_hip_hop) rapper [2Pac](/source/2Pac) writes "[Machiavelli](/source/Machiavelli) was my tutor, Donald Goines my father figure".<ref name="NYT">{{cite web|title= Credentials for Pulp Fiction: Pimp and Drug Addict; For the Novelist Donald Goines, Dead 30 Years, New Popularity and a Movie| first= Lola| last= Ogunnaike |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/25/movies/credentials-for-pulp-fiction-pimp-drug-addict-for-novelist-donald-goines-dead-30.html?pagewanted=all| date= March 25, 2004| work= The New York Times|accessdate= August 17, 2017}}</ref> On the ''[Real Brothas](/source/Real_Brothas)'' album by hip-hop duo [B.G. Knocc Out](/source/B.G._Knocc_Out) & [Dresta](/source/Dresta), the latter mentioned the author by rapping "take a good look because you're looking at a crook/my life done been took, right outta Donald Goines' book".<ref>{{cite web |title= BG Knocc Out & Gangsta Dresta – Real Brothas| website= genius.com| url=https://genius.com/Bg-knocc-out-and-gangsta-dresta-real-brothas-lyrics|accessdate=23 March 2017|language=en}}</ref>

[Ludacris](/source/Ludacris) mentions Goines in his 2006 song "[Eyebrows Down](/source/Chicken-n-Beer)".<ref>{{cite web|url= https://genius.com/Ludacris-eyebrows-down-lyrics|title= Eyebrows Down – Ludacris| website= genius.com|accessdate= 17 August 2017|language=en}}</ref> [AZ](/source/AZ_(rapper)) compares himself to Donald Goines' work in "Rather Unique", with the line, "Your mind's boggled but I'm as deep as Donald Goines' novels". [Nas](/source/Nas) also named the song "Black Girl Lost" on his sophomore album ''[It Was Written](/source/It_Was_Written)'' after the book by Goines. The New York rap trio [Cru](/source/Cru_(group)) had a song called "Goines Tale" where all of Donald's book titles were incorporated into the song's lyrics.

Rapper [Jadakiss](/source/Jadakiss) referenced Goines in the [Sheek Louch](/source/Sheek_Louch) song "Mighty D-Block (2 Guns Up)" with the lyrics "Yo, the revolve' or the mati's cool, Knife game like Daddy Cool's, since Bally Shoes". The rapper [50 Cent](/source/50_Cent) writes in his self-help-autobiography ''Hustle Harder, Hustle Smarter'', that "Personally, I didn’t get into reading until I found writers like Donald Goines and Iceberg Slim who wrote in a voice that felt familiar to me".

Goines' books have been used in several prison literacy programs. His novel ''Dopefiend'' has been taught in a [Rutgers University](/source/Rutgers_University) class.<ref name="NYT" />

In 2020 the author's name was revived as a "pop culture star"<ref>{{Cite web |last=McGraw |first=Bill |title=Donald Goines becomes a pop-culture star half a century after his violent death |url=https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/detroit/2022/01/02/donald-goines-pop-culture-star-books/9049479002/ |access-date=2025-03-25 |website=Detroit Free Press |language=en-US}}</ref> when a couple of his titles were reissued with bold new covers to local bookstores.

==Adaptations==

===Films===
{{main|Never Die Alone}}
Some of Goines's works have been adapted into film. His book ''Crime Partners'' was turned into a 2001 film starring [Ice-T](/source/Ice-T), [Snoop Dogg](/source/Snoop_Dogg), and [Ja Rule](/source/Ja_Rule), and in 2004 his book ''[Never Die Alone](/source/Never_Die_Alone)'' was also released as a film starring [DMX](/source/DMX_(rapper)).<ref>{{cite news|title=FILM REVIEW; Dying Without Remorse, A Bad Guy Who's Lonely|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/26/movies/26NEVE.html|work=New York Times|date=26 March 2004|accessdate=16 December 2012|last1=Mitchell|first1=Elvis}}</ref>

===Graphic novel===
In 1984, a graphic novel adaptation of the book ''Daddy Cool'' was released by Melrose Square, a division of Holloway House. There have been reproductions since 1984 but it was the only graphic of its kind by Donald Goines that was published by Melrose Square.

==See also==
* [List of homicides in Michigan](/source/List_of_homicides_in_Michigan)
* [List of unsolved murders (1900–1979)](/source/List_of_unsolved_murders_(1900%E2%80%931979))

==References==
{{Reflist|2}}

==Further reading==
*Allen, Eddie B. Jr. ''Low Road: The Life and Legacy of Donald Goines''. New York: St. Martin's Press, 2004.
*Nishikawa, Kinohi. "Donald Goines." ''Encyclopedia of Hip Hop Literature''. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 2009. 102–6.
*Stone, Eddie. ''Donald Writes No More''. Los Angeles: Holloway House, 1974.

{{Authority control}}
{{Donald Goines}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Goines, Donald}}
Category:1936 births
Category:1974 deaths
Category:People murdered in 1974
Category:20th-century American male writers
Category:20th-century American novelists
Category:African-American novelists
Category:United States Air Force personnel of the Korean War
Category:American convicts who became writers
Category:American crime fiction writers
Category:American male novelists
Category:American pimps
Category:Deaths by firearm in Michigan
Category:Murdered African-American people
Category:Novelists from Michigan
Category:Writers from Detroit
Category:20th-century pseudonymous writers
Category:20th-century African-American writers
Category:African-American male writers
Category:Urban fiction
Category:African-American Catholics
Category:Unsolved murders in Michigan

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Donald Goines](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Goines) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Goines?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.