Wallace Thurman

Wallace Henry Thurman (August 16, 1902 – December 22, 1934) was an American novelist and screenwriter active during the Harlem Renaissance. He also wrote essays, worked as an editor, and was a publisher of short-lived newspapers and literary journals. He is best known for his first novel The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life (1929), which explores discrimination based on skin tone within the black community, with lighter skin being more highly valued. Thurman was born in Salt Lake City to Beulah and Oscar Thurman. When Thurman was less than a month old, his father abandoned his wife and son. It was not until Wallace was 30 years old that he met his father. Between his mother's many marriages, Wallace and his mother lived in Salt Lake City with Emma Jackson, also known as Ma Jack, his maternal grandmother. Jackson ran a saloon from her home, selling alcohol without a license. Thurman's early life was marked by loneliness, family instability, and illness. He began grade school at age six in Boise, Idaho, but his poor health eventually led to a two-year absence from school.