Albert Murray, named one of the American literary scene’s “best-kept secrets” (Maguire 66), was born in Nokomis, Alabama in 1916; the Southern state of Alabama has been a strong influence on his varied literary output, as shown by his affectionate descriptive memoir, South to a Very Old Place (1971). Murray is a polymath, writer of novels, poetry, a memoir and a biography, as well as cultural critic and informed historian of blues and jazz. The prolific nature of his output in recent years is particularly remarkable, as is his late start as a full-time writer; his literary career did not begin in earnest until 1962, after his retirement from the Air Force. Despite his black Southern heritage, Murray takes an independent …
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Citation: Treby, Marion. "Albert Murray". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 16 October 2008 [https://staging.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=5920, accessed 26 November 2024.]