Leon Forrest

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Leon Richard Forrest (January 8, 1937 - November 6, 1997) was an African American novelist. His novels concerned mythology, history, and Chicago. Forrest was born into a middle-class family in Chicago. His mother was Catholic and from New Orleans, while his father's family was Baptist. His paternal great-grandmother had a role in his early upbringing. Forrest later attended a racially integrated high school after winning an award, but he was a generally mediocre student except for writing. His parents divorced in 1956; his mother remarried, and the couple opened a liquor store. Forrest attended Wendell Phillips grade school and Hyde Park High School. He then attended Wilson Junior College for a year, and then took classes at Roosevelt University and the University of Chicago before dropping out, leaving to serve as a Public Information Officer in the military.