Eldred Kurtz Means (March 11, 1878 – February 19, 1957) was an American Methodist Episcopal clergyman, famed public speaker, and author.[1] A white man, he wrote fictional stories about African/African American characters who lived in an area of Louisiana which he named Tickfall. He described the characters in the most grotesque, comical and sensational terms.[1] His magazine stories were compiled into books.[1] He was a constant and prolific contributor to Frank A. Munsey's pulp magazines such as All-Story Weekly, Argosy and its predecessors.[1] His use of black stereotypes, minstrel show motifs, Jim Crow characters, fantastical mimicry and impressionism of Negro dialect[1] made him a popular author with a niche of white audiences;[2][3][4] but the implicit racist message has not aged well.[1][2]
Goldman was invoked but never defined (see the help page).E.K. Means has won a distinctive if small niche in our national literature. No one has so skillfully exploited ...