Gaines attended St. Augustine Catholic School until he moved to Vallejo, California in 1948 to live with his mother and stepfather. Learn about Ernest J. Gaines: his birthday, what he did before fame, his family life, fun trivia facts, popularity rankings, and more. He was born on River Lake Plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish near the town of New Roads, Louisiana (which he would call Bayonne Parish in his novels). He was born in Pointe Coupee Parish in Louisiana and at age fifteen, Gaines moved to California, joining his mother and stepfather there, because his Louisiana parish had no high school for African Americans. Ernest J. Gaines was born on the 15 January 1933 in Oscar, Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana on the River Lake Plantation. Born Ernest James Gaines, he spent his pre teenage years in rural Louisiana, prior to his family relocating to California when he was fifteen. Four of his works have been made into television movies. Novelist Ernest J. Gaines, acclaimed author of The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, and other novels about the struggles of African Americans in rural Louisiana, died at … Ernest J. Gaines, in full Ernest James Gaines, (born January 15, 1933, Oscar, Louisiana, U.S.—died November 5, 2019, Oscar), American writer whose fiction, as exemplified by The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1971) and A Lesson Before Dying (1993), reflects the African American experience and the oral tradition of his rural Louisiana childhood. Ernest J Gaines was born on January 15, 1933, on River Lake Plantation in the small south Louisiana town of Oscar in Pointe Coupee Parish. He is a writer, known for A Lesson Before Dying (1999), The Sky Is Gray (1980) and The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974). He is an African American writer and educator. Ernest … Ernest J. Gaines is among the most widely read and highly respected contemporary authors of African American fiction. He began working the fields when he was nine, digging potatoes for fifty cents a day. The place of his birth was the plantation that … Ernest J. Gaines was born on January 15, 1933 in Oscar, Louisiana, USA as Ernest James Gaines. Ernest J. Gaines was born on January 15, 1933 in Pointe Coupee, Louisiana, USA as Ernest James Gaines. Ernest J. Gaines, internationally acclaimed author, Writer in Residency Emeritus at the University of Louisiana at Layfayette (UL), native and resident of Oscar, Louisiana entered into eternal rest at the age of 86 on November 5, 2019 at his home with his devoted wife of 26 years, Dianne Gaines. Author Ernest J. Gaines was born on January 15, 1933 in Oscar, Louisiana to Manuel Gaines and Adrienne Jefferson Gaines. He was the son of Adrian Jefferson and Manuel Gaines. He was a writer, known for A Lesson Before Dying (1999), The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974) and The Sky Is Gray (1980). Ernest James Gaines (born January 15, 1933) is an African-American author whose works have been taught in college classrooms and translated into many languages, including French, Spanish, German, Russian and Chinese. His parents worked on the plantation, and he grew up in the plantation quarter. Ernest James Gaines, the first son of African American parents Manuel and Adrienne Gaines, was born on January 15, 1933, in Oscar, Louisiana, a small town a few miles northwest of Baton Rouge. He was married to Dianne Saulney. Ernest James Gaines was born January 15, 1933, on River Lake Plantation in Oscar, a small town in Pointe Coupee Parish, near New Roads, Louisiana. Ernest Gaines was born in month 1887, at birth place, Alabama, to Silvester J Gaines and Beuna Vista Gaines. His ancestors had lived on the same plantation since slavery, remaining after emancipation to work the land as sharecroppers. Ernest had 4 siblings: Garland Gaines and 3 other siblings . Gaines was the oldest of 12 children, and was raised by his Aunt Augustine. He studied at San Francisco State College and went on to graduate from Stanford University. Ernest J. Gaines was born on this date in 1933. Ernest J. Gaines was born on a Louisiana plantation in 1933 in the midst of the Great Depression. Overview The oldest of 12 children, Ernest J. Gaines was born in 1933 and grew up impoverished on a cotton plantation in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. Ernest James Gaines was born on the River Lake Plantation near the small hamlet of Oscar, in Pointe Coupee Parish, Louisiana. He went on to teach at Denison and Stanford Universities, and in 1964 he wrote his first novel "Catherine Carmier."