Novelist Bebe Moore Campbell Dies

Novelist and journalist Bebe Moore Campbell died Monday, November 27 from complications due to brain cancer. She was 56.

Moore gained notoriety in with the publication of "Your Blues Ain't Like Mine," which earned Campbell an NAACP Image Award for Literature. The story is loosely based on the Emmett Till. Her second novel "Brothers and Sisters", explores racial tensions in post-riots Los Angeles. "Brothers and Sisters" was the first of three Campbell novels to make the New York Times bestseller List. "Singing in the Comeback Choir" and "What You Owe Me" followed.

Campbell was born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. A child of divorce, Campbell chronicled her experiences as a child in her memoir "Sweet Summer, Growing Up With and Without My Dad". In 2003, Campbell published the first of her two children's book, "Sometimes My Mommy Gets Angry." The book tells the story of how a little girl deals with her mentally ill mother. The book garnered Campbell an award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI). Her third children's book is set to be released next year.

Campbell's first stage play also dealt with mental illness. In 2003 "Even with the Madness" debuted in New York. Her final novel "72 Hour Hold" also addressed issues surrounding mental illness. Campbell stated the novel was inspired by the experiences of a family member. With the publication of the novel, Campbell became and outspoken on mental health issues. Campbell was a member of the NAMI and a founding member of NAMI-Inglewood.

Campbell was also a prolific journalist who contributed to many magazines and newspapers including the The New York Times, The Washington Post and Black Enterprise. She was a contributing editor to Essence Magazine and also a regular contributor for National Public Radio's "Morning Edition

Campbell received a Bachelor of Science degree in elementary education from the University of Pittsburgh in 1971. After teaching for several years, Campbell began her career as a freelance writer. Her first book was a nonfiction work published in 1986 titled "Successful Women, Angry Men: Backlash in the Two-Career Marriage."

Campbell will be remembers as one of the first women novelists to make the everyday lives of modern African-Americans accessible through her popular fiction. When asked how she came up with ideas for her novel, Campbell stated, "a good idea for a book is one that doesn't have to be written down, because it sticks with me. It haunts me and will not go away. From the moment I start thinking about it the idea seeps into my soul and begins to germinate." Campbell's work received praise from both blacks and whites.

Campbell lived in Los Angeles and is survived by her mother, husband Ellis Gordon Jr., her son Ellis Gordon III and her daughter actress Maia Campbell.