Barbara Neely
| Barbara Neely | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1941 Lebanon, Pennsylvania |
| Occupation | Novelist |
| Nationality | American |
| Genre | Mystery |
| Website | |
| www |
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Barbara Neely (often self-stylized as BarbaraNeely) is an African-American novelist, short story writer and activist who writes murder mysteries. Her first novel, Blanche on the Lam (1992), introduced the protagonist Blanche White, a middle-aged mother, domestic worker and amateur detective.
Barbara Neely, born in 1941, was the oldest of three children born to Ann and Bernard Neely who lived in a rural Pennsylvania Dutch community in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.
She attended a Roman Catholic elementary school and was the only child in her class of Pennsylvania German dialect (popularly known as Pennsylvania Dutch) students to speak English fluently and was the only student of African American descent to attend her elementary and high school. In 1971 she moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania where she was awarded a Masters degree in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Pittsburgh.
After earning her degree, she became thoroughly involved in local activism and created a community based housing program for female felons in an area of Pittsburgh called Shady Side. The program was developed through her position with Pennsylvania's Department of Corrections and was the state's first community based correctional center for women.
During a trip to San Francisco in 1978, Neely witnessed a woman dancing in front of a band which she says inspired her to take her work in activism even farther. Neely stated, "she [the dancing woman] started pointing to people, and when she turned and pointed to me, it seemed to me that she was saying, 'Do it today, because today is all you have.'" Soon after, Neely had her first piece of fiction, a short story called "Passing the Word", published in Essence magazine. Neely moved to North Carolina and began writing for Southern Exposure as well as producing various shows for the African News Service. Her involvement in activism continued with becoming director of a YWCA branch, Family Services Coordinator for ABCD Head Start, executive director of Women for Economic Justice, cofounder of Women of Color for Reproductive Freedom, and host of "Commonwealth Journal" on Boston Radio. She was also part of an evaluative research team at the Institute for Social Research.
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