Gerald Early to Receive Star on St. Louis Walk of Fame

Washington University Professor Gerald L. Early will receive a star on the St. Louis Walk of Fame. Early is a well-known essayist and culture critic.

The induction ceremony will be held at held on the northeast corner of Delmar and Skinker boulevards, just outside Washington University’s Corner Building, at 11:30 a.m. Thursday, April 11.

The ceremony is open to the public.

Early, the Merle Kling Professor of Modern Letters at Washington University in St. Louis, is scheduled to speak at the induction ceremony. 

“I’m delighted that the 120-member selection committee chose Gerald Early to join the other Washington University literary luminaries on the St. Louis Walk of Fame,” said Joe Edwards, founder of the Walk of Fame in a press release.

“It’s amazing to me the number of literary greats on the walk who have connections to Washington University, from such faculty members as William Gass, Howard Nemerov and Stanley Elkin to alumni A. E. Hotchner and Tennessee Williams,” said Edwards. “Gerald Early is most deserving of his place alongside these acclaimed writers.”

While the induction ceremony is April 11, Early's star won't be embedded in the sidewalk just yet. The star will be set near the corner of Delmar and Eastgate Avenue after construction is completed on Wash U’s Loop Student Living Initiative.

According to Washington University, Early has been a member of the faculty since 1982. 

He is a professor of English, of African and African-American studies, and of American culture studies. He recently stepped down as director of Arts & Sciences’ Center for the Humanities after more than 11 years in that position. 

Early is author and editor of more than a dozen books including The Culture of Bruising: Essays on Prizefighting, Literature and Modern American Culture, which won the 1994 National Book Critics Circle Award for criticism, and This Is Where I Came In: Black America in the 1960s. 

See our previous Walk of Fame coverage:

• RIP Stan Musial - from St. Louis Walk of Fame
• Ntozake Shange Receives Star on Walk of Fame
• Ntozake Shange to Receive Star on Walk of Fame
• William Holden Receives Star on the Walk of Fame
• Walk of Fame: William Holden's Star Unveiling Is Today
• William Holden Joining St. Louis' Walk of Fame
• New Star Added to St. Louis Walk of Fame