Ernest James Gaines (1994)

Ernest James Gaines was born and raised on River Lake Plantation in Point Coupee Parish, not far from the banks of the Mississippi. He has written some of the most significant fiction on the folkways, languages, and local culture of Black people in Louisiana. Gaines’ work particularly focuses in and around the plantation where he grew up, endearing millions of hearts to the people of Louisiana. His first novel, Catherine Carmier (1964), is greatly influenced by Hemingway, but more consciously modeled after the work of Russian writer Turgenev. His popular The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974) was adapted for television in 1974 and won nine Emmy awards.