Joseph Seamon Cotter, Sr.'s birth year marked the start of the Civil War, and he lived past the flowering of Afro-American culture in the 1920s and 1930s. Over the course of his career, this self-educated writer published five books of poetry, one each of drama and fiction, and a miscellaneous collection of tales, short plays, poems, and brief prose items consisting mainly of aphorisms, proverbs, and jokes. Some of his poetry has appeared in anthologies and periodicals, and his single full-length play, the second published by an Afro-American, is included in a collection of early black drama. A poet whose life circumstances prevented him from attaining his full powers, Cotter nonetheless enjoyed the distinction and popular acclaim which came from his roles as a revered Louisville educator and community leader,popular story-teller at church and school functions. He was also known for his promotion of story-telling contests...