Walter Ellis Mosely

Walter Ellis Mosley was born January 12, 1952 in Los Angeles. He is also an only child. He was born to a black father form Louisiana and a Polish Jewish mother. Mosley graduated from Hamilton High School in 1970. Shortly after graduated, he became part of bohemian life in Santa Cruz. He then went on to earn a degree in political science at the University of Vermont.

Mosely did not begin writing until the age of 39, after being greatly influenced by Alice Walker’s The Color Purple. Mosley’s first published book was “Devil in a Blue Dress”, which became a movie in 1995 starring Denzil Washington. He is best known for his series of best-selling historical mysteries. The story centers around detective Easy Rawlins who is a black private investigator and a World War II veteran. President Bill Clinton has also names Mosely as one of his favorite authors.

Mosely’s most current passion is for the racism that has followed September 11. He has mentioned that he has been stopped and questioned every time he goes through security at an airport. “I guess I look vaguely Arabic,” he says, “but it gives you an even more heightened awareness of the suspicion that Muslims, even American Muslims, feel under at the moment. Many of these people consider themselves patriotic Americans and suddenly it’s, ‘Whoah! America doesn’t want us” (O’Hagan, 2003).

Mosely currently resides in New York City.