Ronald Fair

Ronald Lyman Fair (born October 27, 1932, in Chicago, Illinois) is an American writer and sculptor. He is known for his experimental and versatile literary forms, most prominently through the 1966 novel Hog Butcher, set in 1960s Chicago. This was the basis of the 1975 film Cornbread, Earl and Me. The cast included Rosalind Cash and Laurence Fishburne. Relocating to Finland, Fair began sculpting in 1977. In December 1980 he became "born again", thereafter becoming a "Christian writer" and founder of the International Orphans' Assistance Association.

Biography

Ronald Fair was born to Mississippi farmworkers Herbert and Beulah Hunt Fair in Chicago, Illinois, where he went to school. After serving three years in the US Navy, he attended the Stenotype School of Chicago, after which he found employment as a court reporter for 12 years. Having begun writing in his teens, he published various pieces in publications including the Chicago Defender, Ebony, Chat Noir, before the publication in 1965 of his first novel, Many Thousand Gone: An American Fable. His second novel, Hog Butcher was filmed in 1975 as Cornbread, Earl and Me. In 1970 he published World of Nothing: Two Novellas, and 1972 the autobiographical novel We Can't Breathe.

In 1977 Fair moved to Finland, where he dedicated himself more to sculpture than writing.

Publications

• Many Thousand Gone: An American Fable (short novel), Harcourt, 1965.
• Hog Butcher (novel), Harcourt, 1966; republished as Cornbread, Earl and Me, Bantam, 1975.
• World of Nothing: Two Novellas, Harper, 1970.
• We Can't Breathe (novel), Harper, 1972.
• Excerpts (poetry), Paul Breman, 1975.
• Rufus (poetry), P. Schlack (Germany), 1977; 2nd edn Lotus Press, 1980

Norwegian

• 1987 Eva; Rex Forlag

Swedish

• 1978 "Gudskelov För snön" ("Thank God It Snowed"); 6/78 Bonniers Litterära Magasin (BLM), December 1978; Arg. 47 Nr 6.

Portuguese

• 2002 Correndo Para A Vida (1st printing), Brazil
• 2010 Correndo Para A Vida (2nd printing), Finland

Spanish

• 2010 Corriendo Hacia La Vida (1st printing) Finland

Lyrics for recordings

• 1980 "A New Kinda Day"; Frendz, Music, H. Silvenoinen; Lyrics, Ronald Fair
• 1980 "Final Awakening"; Frendz, Music, H. Silvenoinen; Lyrics, Ronald Fair
• 1980 "Dancing People"; Frendz, Music, H. Silvenoinen; Lyrics, Ronald Fair

Movies

• 1968 An American Hero, film script for Dino De Laurentiis, Hollywood
• 1971 Hog Butcher, two drafts. Producer had two heart attacks and sold the rights to someone else
• 1975 Cornbread, Earl & Me, from Hog Butcher
• 1994 Kirje Suomesta, music video, directed by R. Ampuja
• 1995 Who Is Your Neighbour, Mumbai (Bombay), India; P. K. Rajhuns Director. Written and co-produced
• 2000 The Truth by P. K. Rajhuns; co-produced

Play performances

• 1968 The Emperor's Parade, or, Our Boy Dick; A Political Satire (Chicago)
• 1968 & 69 Sails and Sinkers; comedy; (Chicago; Middletown, Conn Weslayan University)
• 1988 Animal Christmas, a musical (Helsinki)
• 2002 Animal Christmas, Jyväskylä, Finland
• 2003 Animal Christmas, Kankaanpää, Finland
• 2008 Animal Christmas; Hyderabad, India
• 2009 Animal Christmas; Hyderabad, India

Sculpture

• "Jesus Wept", wood, 24 cm

• "Three Holes"; bronze, 30 cm; Museum Villa Urpo; Ylöjärvi, Finland

• "Seven Praising Him"; painted wood, 70 X 100; private collection

• "Praise Him With Stringed Instruments"; painted wood, 25 by 40 cm; private collection

• "Mother & Child", wood, 90 X 40 cm; Museum Villa Urpo; Ylöjärvi, Finland

• "Jesus & Two Criminals"; Bronze, 5 meters; Museum Villa Urpo; Ylöjärvi, Finland