Mosley, Walter

American author, born in the tough and run-down South Central district in Los Angeles. His mother had a Russian-Jewish background and her father was Afro-American. Walter Mosley had at first an irregular school life, but his mother encouraged him to read, even classic literature. In 1964, the family moved to Westside in Los Angeles, and in 1970 he matriculated from Alexander Hamilton High School. He started studying at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont, but dropped out and for a few years lived a wandering hippie-life in Santa Cruz and Europe. He went back to his studies, however, and in 1977 obtained a degree at Johnson State College i Vermont.