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Henry Dumas (July 20, 1934 – May 23, 1968) was an African-American writer and poet. He has been called "an absolute genius" by Toni Morrison,〔Toni Morrison, "On Behalf of Henry Dumas", ''Black American Literature Forum'', Vol. 22, No. 2, Henry Dumas Issue (Summer, 1988), pp. 310–312.〕 who as a commissioning editor at Random House published collections both of his poetry, ''Play Ebony, Play Ivory'',〔Henry Dumas, ''Play Ebony, Play Ivory: Poetry''. Edited by Eugene B. Redmond. New York: Random House, 1974.〕 and his short stories, ''Ark of Bones''.〔Henry Dumas, ''Ark of Bones and Other Stories''. Edited by Eugene B. Redmond. New York: Random House, 1974.〕 ==Biography== Dumas was born in Sweet Home, Arkansas, in 1934 and lived there until the age of ten, when he moved to New York City; however, he always kept with him the religious and folk traditions of his hometown. In Harlem, he attended public school and graduated from Commerce High School in 1953. After graduating, he enrolled in the Air Force and was stationed at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas, where he met future wife, Loretta Ponton. The couple married in 1955 and had two sons, David in 1958 and Michael in 1962. Dumas was in the military until 1957, at which time he enrolled at Rutgers University but never attained a degree. In 1967 Dumas began work at Southern Illinois University as a teacher, counselor, and director of its "Experiment in Higher Education" program. It was here that he met fellow teacher and poet Eugene Redmond, forming a close collaborative relationship that would prove so integral to Dumas's posthumous career. During his life, Dumas was active in civil rights and humanitarian efforts, including transporting food and clothing to protesters in Mississippi and Tennessee. While serving in the military, he spent eighteen months at Dhahran Air Force Base in Saudi Arabia, where he developed an interest in the language, culture, religion, and mythology of the Arab world. On May 23, 1968, at approximately 12:15 a.m., Dumas was shot to death at the age of 33 by a New York City Transit Police officer on the southbound platform of the 125th Street Station of the New York City Subway's IRT Lenox Avenue Line. The circumstances of the shooting are somewhat murky, particularly since the Transit Police Department's records of the shooting were destroyed when the agency merged into the New York City Police Department in 1995.〔Jeffrey B. Leak, ''Visible Man: The Life of Henry Dumas'', pages 2 and 145-53 (2014).〕 According to an Associated Press report shortly after the shooting, the officer claimed that Dumas had been threatening another man with a knife. The officer said that he ordered Dumas to drop the knife, but that Dumas instead turned, attacked the officer, and slashed the officer's cheek. The officer stated that he fired three times.〔Associated Press, (Knife Brings Death Bullet ), reprinted in the ''Herald Statesman'' (May 23, 1968), page 5. Retrieved on August 23, 2015.〕 Multiple accounts over the years have said that Dumas was killed by the officer in a case of "mistaken identity,"〔M. Dion Thompson, (Author left legacy of promise and magic; Anniversary: 30 years after his untimely death, Henry Dumas is remembered for what he wrote and what he might have been ), ''Baltimore Sun'' (July 24, 1998). Retrieved on August 23, 2015.〕〔Doris Grumbach, (Notes of a Visible Man ), ''New York Times'' (June 26, 1988). Retrieved on August 23, 2015.〕〔(Scott Saul, "The Devil and Henry Dumas – A lost voice of the Black Arts Movement", ''Boston Review'', October/November 2004. )〕 but it is unclear what the source of that characterization is. Dumas was buried in Long Island National Cemetery in Suffolk County, New York.〔(Page for Henry Lee Dumas ), Find A Grave. Retrieved on August 23, 2015.〕〔(National Gravesite Locator ), from the website of the National Cemetery Administration of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs. Retrieved on August 23, 2015.〕 His death is mentioned in the poem "An Alphabet of My Dead," by Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Henry Dumas」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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